Eternal Defiance
by fanficssuck
Summary: He has no motivation. No aspirations. No dream. After a tragic childhood, all he wants is to be able to relax. Only money means anything to him. But what if there's more to it than that? Join some random douche as he begins his fail pokemon journey.
1. The Beginning

**Oh dear christ, someone shoot me now. This was supposed to be the greatest fic I've ever written, but so far it's horrendous. I don't know if anyone is even remotely interested in reading this story, (you may be if you like OC stories) but I'll definitely try and improve the second chapter. I mean, honestly, I can make this WAY better right now...but I can't be arsed. This simply sucks because I rushed it, and...ah, whatever. I'm just rambling now. But seriously, I hate it when my writing doesn't turn out how I wanted it to...**

**Anyways:**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>Eternal Defiance<p>

_Rain poured down heavily, followed by a clash of thunder, as lighting struck the fields on Cinnabar Island. The thunderous roar of the storm echoed throughout Kanto, frightening pokemon and humans alike. Not a soul dared step outside, or so it seemed, for the fear of being swept away was too great to bare. Inside a certain house, in a certain room, lay a certain boy. Recently turned 8, he slept quietly, completely oblivious to the horrors occurring below him. Yes – downstairs, the very parents who had brought him into this world and raised him, the ones who protected him and shared memories with him...were being murdered. Dressed in dark robes, mysterious beings wielding knives surrounded the family's kitchen, repeatedly thrusting their weapons at the mother and father. A shrilled scream could be heard as the woman was stabbed in the chest, and fell to the ground, collapsing from pain and blood loss. The man panicked and sent out one of his trusted companions – his rapidash. After it came out of it's poke ball, it neighed as it's fire flickered brightly, before warding off the assassins. It's master saw this as a chance to escape, and promptly escaped the building through a window, abandoning everything he had lived and worked for._

_Little did they know, the child, now pale and teary-eyed, had witnessed the entire event through a crack in the door. The shriek of his own dead parent, and the smashing of windows had woken him up. The assassins followed suite through the window and chased the target, leaving the young boy all alone at night..._

_...in a dark and lifeless house..._

* * *

><p>The morning light shone in Twinleaf town, entering through a gap in the curtains via the window. The slight warmth rested upon a single boy's nose, allowing him to slowly open his eyes and wake up from his nightmare. He rose up gradually until he assumed a seating position, and groggily let out a deep yawn while stretching his arms. The young male then once again took his time and got out of the bed, walking towards the mirror which had been adjusted so that it was high enough to reach his face at 6ft.'2. He looked at himself with an impassive expression, noticing his scraggy, black medium-long hair, and his tired green eyes. He just wanted to go back to sleep, but he was out of food, and wanted breakfast, so a quick visit to the nearest pokemart was necessary. He had never been one for chores or domestic tasks, and even though he was now living alone, the guy still hadn't gotten used to it. "Ryan Ryker, you are one sorry sack of shit, bro," he said to himself before opening his drawer to get dressed. He quickly grabbed his favourite black hoodie, a white vest to put under it, baggy blue jeans, a pair of white and green striped trainers and his trademark beanie hat which was black with flames along it. The 15-year-old male now double checked to make sure he had his one pokeball with him, but then decided to open it and let his trusted partner ghastly float by him as he travelled there. Most would see it as a dull or disgusting pokemon, but Ryan had always kind of liked that about the ghost type. Fire was another favourite of his. Why, back in his homeland of Cinnibar island in Kanto, practically everyone owned a fire type – and then he paused his train of thoughts. Halfway between grabbing the door handle, he stopped and remembered all about his childhood. How he would go to the park with his parents, tell them about his day at school, and then how they one night simply appeared dead in front of him, just like in his nightmare. He had moved in with his ill grandmother after the incident, but eventually she died. That was where he had discovered Ghastly, and he challenged a few of the Kanto gyms with him, actually earning a few badges.<p>

However, things were now different. He was no longer a child, but now an adolescent, and he deemed himself ready to travel. Well, that was the initial idea, but in the end he had no motivation and just wanted to live a quiet life in the furthest reaches of sinnoh. He casually slipped his hands in his pockets, as he nonchalantly strolled on with his pokemon. Ryan walked through the fields of route 201, taking in his surroundings and admiring the nature. There were starlies and various bug types around, just doing their daily thing. When he was younger, he was energetic and cheerful and would have stared in awe at tall trees and whatnot, but they meant nothing much to him now. He just lived as normal, boring and as depressing as possible. It was a great laid back life, what with him being a lazy bastard and all. He wasn't much of a talker either, so double win-win with it being lonely.

Finally, he made it to sandgem town; yet another peaceful place. That's what he had liked about south-western area of sinnoh – everything was quiet and slow. The young man stepped into the pokemart and went to the aisle which had food for both pokemon and humans. Ryan had pretty much been living off cereal, and didn't complain at all. Well, it was that he didn't care about anything enough to hold grudges. He walked over to the counter and placed the cereal on. He wasn't sure why, but he also decided to buy pokeballs. It was probably by accident because he was half-asleep still, but he had nothing better to spend his money on so he may aswell.

_Wait a minute... _the boy thought to himself. _What money? _The voice of the shop owner behind the counter snapped him out of his thoughts: "£5 please." He looked up to see the clerk standing there with a stupid grin on his face and his hand out, expecting him to place the cash in his hands. Ryan quickly searched his pockets, but found nothing. He felt around his clothes to see if he brought his wallet, but to no avail. _Damnit...I've got absolutely nothing left, and I've only been here a couple of weeks...and this guy's smile is starting to creep me out, man. Let's see...uh...oh yeah! Of course! Why didn't I think of that before..._

A lightbulb went off in his head and he started smiling back to the store owner.

"Uhh...excuse me? I said £5, good sir," he repeated, with a confused look.

"Ah, yeah sure, gimme a moment," replied the other while pretending to search for his money.

"Now wheeeeere did it all go..." he said aloud, a small smile playing on his lips. The other man just stood there.

"Can you please hurry up sir? There are people waiting to be served."

"K dude, keep your shirt on...by the way, what's that behind you?"

The unfortunate worker turned around to see ghastly pulling one of the scariest faces he'd ever seen, and fell backwards into the wall, banging his head. Ryan let out a short laugh and grabbed his merchandise before making his escape running towards the exit "Nice work ghastly!" he turned his head to see said pokemon, while panting slightly. "He didn't know what hit hi-" but he was cut short, as his tallness caught up to him and his head collided with the top of the door frame, making him fall straight onto his arse, and leaving him dizzy.

"Ugghh...that fucking hurts..." the boy managed to groan as he lay on his back. The store owner stood over him and looked down at him with crossed arms. "It's called karma, kid. Now give me that stuff and get out of here. You're lucky I don't call officer Jenny on you...if you're that desperate for money, go get yourself a damn job, scum".

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><p>Those last harsh words rang in his ears as he walked out of the store with his head hung low. "Scum eh...can't argue with that." He sat down with his ghastly near the beach and stared at the morning sun. He reminisced about how good and promising his life used to be, and compared it with now. "I've got more freedom, but I'm probably gonna end up dying lonely in a ditch somewhere..." Ryan actually enjoyed solitude, but having nobody left alive knowing you at all was pretty dark. He got up, and began walking back to twinleaf town. "Where am I gonna get a job in a place like this?" Just before he walked out of Sandgem though, he noticed a sign to his right:<p>

_**Wanted: Lab assistant for Professor Rowan.**_

_**No experience needed**_

_**Apply inside if Interested**_

"...well that was stupid."

* * *

><p>The lab was pretty regular. It looked like a cross between a kitchen and a library, with bookshelves and a wooden floor near the entrance and then machines and white tiles a few feet in front. Ryan walked in (ghastly was now in his pokeball) with his hands in his pockets and a moronic look on his face, just having a gander at all the different objects and scientists in there, working away. He shuffled along to the main room, slightly dragging his feet, before coming to a standstill. He saw 3 pokeballs on a table labelled "Turtwig, Piplup and Chimchar" and bent down to get a closer look. This caught the attention of a middle-aged looking man who was messing with a hand-held device.<p>

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

He turned to look at the source of the voice and stood up straight again, making the man's head rise. "Yeah, uh...I'm looking for Professor...Rowan? Or something? I saw the ad for the job."

The man's eyes lit up. "Ah, wonderful! That would be me! Why don't you come over here for a second..."

He followed Rowan over to a desk which had two more of those hand-held devices on. "Now, remember when I said anyone can do the job? You don't need any experience? Well, that's because you're going to start a new experience as of today!"

"I am?" the younger one muttered.

"Yes. I'm sure you've heard of it before, but pokemon trainers travel all around the region catching and battling pokemon, whether it be for a lifestyle, to challenge gyms and get stronger, or to enter contests etc."

"Right...I know that part...so how does this relate to me 'assisting' you?" he questioned, still sceptical.

"Well, obviously you'll be going on this journey and taking one of these with you!" he picked up one of the devices and handed it to Ryan. "Listen, this will automatically store data of any pokemon you meet, so I want you to go on a quest to find every single one of 'em and complete it for m-"

"No."

"..."

"…"

The professor fell down in a classic anime way.

"I-I'm...I'm sorry?"

"I ain't goin' on some shitty-ass safari trip getting info for you so you can jizz over your silly little gadget. I just want money so I can get food so I can sleep and do nothing for the rest of my life."

"Oh come on. Being a trainer is fun! Look, you've already got a pokemon of your own, haven't you? I'm sure you'd enjoy being in the company of a few more. Besides, it'll give you chance to get out more and go and explore the world."

"Sorry mate, but I just ain't interested. Money makes the world go round, and as long as I get it, I'm alright. See ya around, man." And with that, he began to walk away, until the professor opened his mouth again:

"You can challenge the gyms if you want, you know. I hear the prize money is pretty darn good."

Ryan stopped in his tracks. "Money?"

Rowan sighed in relief after realising that he got his attention. "Yeah. You look like you'd be a strong trainer, and with a bit of training, could easily take on the gym leaders."

This time, the teenager turned around. "You get..prize money for winning in Sinnoh?"

"Yep. Did you think they reward all your hard work by just giving you a little badge?"

"Hmmm...alrighty then, old man - I've reconsidered. I'll do your stupid task."

"Great! You only have a single pokemon, would you like to browse one of these starter-"

"No."

"Oh. How some supplies, like poti-"

"No."

"Well how about-"

"No."

The professor sighed yet again. "Can you please stop interrupting me like that?"

"No."

"Now you're just being awkward."

Ryan scratched his head and let out a coy chuckle, while Rowan just sweat-dropped.

"Well I know you'll want this, young man." he stated matter-of-factly. He threw the new trainer a pokeball, and it was opened immediately.

"Hey, a ponyta...just like the ones back on cinnabar island. You're giving me her?"

"Yep. It should help you on your journey. By the way, I never got your name. What is it?"

"Ryan Ryker."

"Hm, nice name. Well Ryan, I've got work to do, so hurry on out, and good luck!"

"Cheers mate." And with that, he left the building, and headed towards the city of the first gym.

_He sure is quick to change his mind when it comes to money,_ thought the professor, smiling to himself.

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><p><strong>There we go, your torture is over. Well, as far as I'm concerned, the only problem with it was how fast-paced it is...I rushed it so badly that some parts actually don't make sense. <strong>

**Dat review button eh. I love criticism, compliments, flames, you name it. Just don't expect me to care if you review or not.**

**...hm. That sounded rather nasty. :S**


	2. Who needs Planning?

**Why HELLO there dear reader. If you're reading this for the first time, welcome! Now go read chapter one. If you already read chapter one when I first published it, uh...sorry for the wait? Meh, I had better things to do. Like procrastinate. **

**But anyways, the only reason I got this out today is because somebody left an absolutely WONDERFUL review. It inspired me like hell, lololol. So thank them. Well, that's if you actually like this story. But once again, I'm afraid that it hasn't turned out how I wanted it to. I was going to have it as a more light-hearted humorous story, but I've noticed with this chapter that it has some rather dark elements; I'm probably going to have to change the rating to M, not just for language or violence, but because of how...eh...dark? Some parts are. I don't know. Godamn I'm rambling again. WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS?**

**Anyways:**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>Who needs planning?<p>

The morning sun was no more as it slowly peaked in the sky, indicating that it was noon. Many more pokemon had now awakened, and the atmosphere in sandgem suddenly became lively. This of course was not known by a certain young man in route 202, who recently started his half-hearted journey. He was now a mile away from the coastal town, and had a chance to move at his own pace in the rural pathway towards his destination, taking in all of his surroundings once more. There was a distinct lack of trees along the route, and you could almost see the shadow of a city on the horizon. Every now and again another traveller would walk past him, but other than that it was pretty quiet. Luckily, he hadn't come across any other trainers yet. Ryan enjoyed being near all of this nature, but it didn't help when the same old ordinary bidoofs and starlies came jumping out of nowhere with killer intentions. Gastly scared most of them off, of course. He made a mental note to himself: Stay away from the tall grass. ALWAYS.

As Ryan walked further and further and time went on, he finally stopped in his tracks and looked around for a moment.

"...wait a minute...which way do I go?" He span around slowly for 360 degrees, but everywhere looked the same. Cloud had prevented him from seeing the horizon, and the dirt path had been swept away somehow. _Great. Just great. This is what I get for not bringing a map. _Now stumped on what to do, he sat down cross-legged, with both of his hands on each knee; supposedly a thinking position. His ghostly partner gave him a concerned look, but the trainer reassured him. "Don't worry, man - I have a plan. And yes, I am fully aware that I just rhymed." Ryan stood up, striking a confident pose as he reached into his pocket and took out a pokeball. Carefully, as if building up suspense, he expanded it and then threw it onto the ground. A bright light shone, and a pokemon in the form of a flaming horse appeared, looking slightly agitated. He began glaring at Ponyta, who returned the glare, thus starting an intense staring contest. For just a moment, you could hear the flicker of the fire type's flames, until the trainer finally broke the silence:

"Alright...tell me: WHERE DO WE GO NEXT?"

"..."

The silence resumed, and Gastly mentally face-palmed, giving him a look as if to say: "_That _was your plan?"

Ponyta scoffed, and forcefully went back into the pokeball from her own will. Sighing, Ryan picked the ball back up and shoved it in his pocket. "Well, there goes my amazing idea. Screw it, let's just go...this way!" he proclaimed, pointing in any direction. His partner reluctantly followed, still processing his stupidity.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, somewhere in the Eastern side of sinnoh where night time had already arrived, a girl slammed against an alleyway wall, grimacing in pain as she held her arm, looking up at the man who had pushed her. A sadistic grin found it's way onto his face, as he tossed the pokeball of a stolen pokemon up and down in front of his victim. "P-please...", the girl begged "I didn't do anything towards Team Gala..galactic.." The thief's face contorted as his smile grew even wider, eventually turning into maniacal laughter which echoed throughout the whole alleyway. "Galactic? Who the fuck are they? Bahahahahaha!"<p>

Shrieking in terror, the woman tried to escape, but he grabbed her by the arm and threw her back down again. He then walked to the end of the alley, and double checked to make sure that nobody was suspicious, before returning to the terrified girl. Tears now began falling from her eyes, causing him to laugh once again, and giving him a horrific idea. He tightened his grip on the ball, and swung his arm towards the wall, smashing it into 3 separate pieces. A shard stuck into his wrist, but he didn't even seem to care. The female's eyes widened and a shrill scream disappeared into the night, unheard by everyone.

* * *

><p>Ryan had been walking for a few hours now, and it was late in the afternoon. The heat was sweltering, and they didn't seem to be getting any closer to the next town. Now he was seriously regretting not accepting Rowan's offer of supplies. He turned to his pokemon partner on his right, and gave him a tired and painful expression. "Well ol' buddy...if it continues like this, we're probably gonna end up...dead."<p>

Gastly's eyes widened in horror, before Ryan let out an obnoxious laugh. "I was joking!" At first his pokemon began scowling at him, to which the trainer responded: "Oh shit, whaddaya gonna do, lick me to death?" and cracked up again. The ghost sniggered at his comment, and they both continued merrily down the road.

As they were walking however, a shadow in the shape of a person appeared in front of them, arms folded, and a cocky smirk on it's face. It was a young boy, roughly about 12 years of age. But before Ryan could move out of sight, their eyes had already met. _Don't tell me...this kid's gonna..._

"I challenge you to a battle, loser!"

_...yyyyup. _

With an annoyed expression on one face and a confident one on the other, two trainers pulled out pokeballs and threw them onto the ground. No questions asked, no further communication. _Looks like people nowerdays don't know how to greet someone._ On one side a Ponyta stood, who neighed and held her head high. Opposite her – a Bidoof.

"Oh hell no." muttered the teenager while gaping in confusion at the basic pokemon in front of it.

"HAH!" shouted the younger child from a few meters away. "You can't stop staring at my awesome pokemon, right? I caught Bidoof when I was ten, and we make an amazing combo team!"

"Oh...that's wonderful..."

"Get ready for a pummelling! Bidoof, use tackle attack!"

Said Bidoof ran towards Ponyta aimlessly at an incredibly slow speed, allowing the pony to sidestep to the right, without any effort whatsoever. The normal type went crashing (well, if you can call stopping in your tracks after pretty much walking "crashing", then yeah) into a bush at the side of the road. It came out plodding along with a few berries in it's mouth. It makes you wonder if he went towards there on purpose...

Slightly unsure if they were even in a battle, Ponyta gave a puzzled look to her trainer, who just shrugged and gave her a command: "Use Tackle yourself, I guess." And the fire type obeyed, running towards Bidoof and striking it from the front, sending it skidding a few yards away. The tackle must have been hard, because the impact could actually be heard pretty clearly, and it also scraped some skin, spilling a single drop of blood. Ryan suddenly twitched. He began gazing at where Bidoof lay, as it slowly but surely got back up. It had healed up using an oran berry, but it barley made a difference. That wasn't the important part though. He continued to stare at it, almost in fascination. _What is this feeling..._ he thought while covering his stomach with his hand.

"Alright, Bidoof! Way to go! I knew you wouldn't let that loser beat you!" exclaimed the boy once more, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his pokemon was on it's last legs. "Now get up, and-"

"Ponyta." Ryan murmured, loud enough for them both to hear, cutting the boy short. "Use tackle again."

Unable to react quickly enough, Bidoof was once again knocked off it's feet, and rolled to the side, this time even further than the first hit. The left corner of the older youth's mouth rose slightly, and he issued another attack: "Tackle it again, and keep running after you hit it." he ordered while raising his voice ever so slightly. Once again, Bidoof was helpless. But, as it's limp movement was coming to a stand still, Ponyta caught up to the almost lifeless body and became the clear winner, but apparently it was not over. "Finish it off with a stomp!" he harshly spat, although Ponyta agreed anyway, and pulled up one of it's front hooves. The foot met with the grass however, as Bidoof disappeared into a red light, returned to it's ball by the boy, who now had a frightened face.

"Hey! What's your problem, mister? You already won!" The boy desperately shouted, causing his opponent to snap back to reality, with a rather shocked expression. "uh...yeah..sorry man." The two stood there silently, creating an awkward atmosphere for both of them. The taller one broke the silence.

"Well that was a quick battle. A pointless one, too."

"Shut up."

"Anyways – now that I've won, you could probably tell me where the first gym is." Completely forgetting the events of what just happened, the kid went back to his usual self, smirking and folding his arms once again:

"Hehe, I guess even though you seem to be capable of beating an amazing pokemon master like me, you still need my help, mister. Hahaha!" Ryan sweat-dropped and sighed before continuing.

"Right...so where am I going?"

"Oreburgh city! Here's a spare map for you" he replied, handing him a dirty, worn-out leaflet.

"Ah, cheers. This should come in handy...wait a minute. There's no words on this piece of crap!"

"Why do you think it's my spare?"

"Tch. Useless. Meh, whatever." He began scanning the page for the nearest symbol which represented a city. Gastly floated next to his head, in order to get a look at the map himself.

"Aha!" he burst out while pointing at the next settlement. "This must be Oreburgh. If we keep on walking straight ahead this way, we should get there in like half an hour."

He turned around to thank the boy, but he had already ran off. "Oh well. C'mon man, let's go."

* * *

><p>Half an hour did indeed pass, and they finally arrived at a city. It was night-time, and they were surrounded by tall buildings, neon lights, and cars driving around everywhere, along with pedestrians literally filling the pavement. <strong>(AN: I don't say side-walk because I'm limey and whatnot.) **Ryan and Gastly started celebrating at the entrance to the city, the former going down to his knees and worshiping the place in front of him. "Oh my God...food...an actual bed...a gym...I can sit down for once! Oreburgh city, fuck yeah!"

Unfortunately though, they turned to their right and noticed a rather large, and from Ryan's viewpoint, mocking, sign hanging off a street light:

_**Welcome to Jubilife City! **_

_**Enjoy your stay!**_

The two looked at each other, excitement dying out.

"...are you freaking kidding me?"

* * *

><p>The two sat in a café, one slowly eating a small meal, with a cup of coffee to his left, watching the rain pour down on heavily on the streets of Jubilife. Of course, he was gonna leave without paying the bill. Well, what else could he do? He was broke. The café was relatively quiet, as there were only a few customers in there, pretty much doing the same thing what he was. <em>Damn. We still aren't there yet? I knew I shouldn't have gone on this stupid errand. My legs'll probably give way before we get there, because I certainly can't afford a motel for the night. <em>He sat there in silence for a few minutes, staring at his plate. Slowly, he stood up and quietly slipped out.

Ryan shoved his hands in his pocket, and walked in the rain. His mood had changed. Gastly tried to get his attention to find out what was wrong, but failed to and could only watch as his trainer wandered around in the pouring rain, void of emotion. After about 10 minutes of doing absolutely nothing, he stopped walking and simply stood there, in the middle of the city square, looking around. "...what am I doing."

He remained still, passers-by having to walk around him. He simply stared in one direction, watching everything move by. What exactly was going on here? In no more than 12 hours, he had woken up, been kicked out of a store, gotten a "job" with entails him travelling across the entire country, been attacked by swarms of weak pokemon, battled an annoying child, almost collapsed from hunger, walked more than he had in the past week only to find out that he was only half way there until he could rest, and now he just couldn't do anything. He was tired and alone. "Just what the _hell _am I doing? I can't survive out here. I can't travel around like this. This whole thing has been a waste of time. Fuck it."

All of a sudden, he turned around and began storming off towards the exit where route 202 was. He didn't bother navigating through the crowd, and knocked shoulders with anyone who didn't move out of the way. The rain was heavier than ever, and it was starting to soak through his beanie hat. Just as he was about to go through the gate, a voice came from his side.

"Where do you think you're going?" Thinking it was just some random drunk stranger, Ryan continued to walk along the route. "Don't you have a job to do?"

He turned around. This stranger was starting to annoy him. "I'm going home. What's it to you?" He turned around and noticed that the stranger was a male no older than him, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He had brown shaggy hair about the same length as his, and was wearing a beige coloured jacket with a thin white vest underneath it, and baggy jeans and shoes, similar to those which Ryan wore. He looked about 5'9 or 5'10 in height, and had a fairly muscular build. His most noticeable feature was the fake gold necklace.

"Well, Twinleaf town isn't in the direction of where someone would go when told to explore the world."

"...how exactly do you know why I'm here?"

"Pardon me, but I was eavesdropping. You see, I'm professor Rowan's son – David Rowan. I'm starting a journey parallel to yours, except I don't intend on storing information. I'm going to become the Champion of the Sinnoh Region."

"Whoopy-fucking-doo, bro. You must be so damn happy with yourself." He threw him the pokedex. "Here you are. Go catch some pokemon and have a blast, kid."

"Oh? You mean you're not going to do it yourself?"

"Why would I? I'm too lazy for this shit."

"What about the money?"

"Screw that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fire to go die in." And with that, he turned on his heel, and headed back towards sandgem town. David stared at his back for a while, no longer leaning on the wall, but standing directly opposite him at the gate.

"Are you really that miserable?"

Ryan stopped once again for the fourth time in a short while. He didn't turn around, nor did he answer him.

"Believe it or not, I too live in Twinleaf town. You probably haven't noticed me because you isolate yourself from the rest of the village. What, do you think you're too good for the rest of us? Ever since I was born there, I've been one of the only children. When I heard that someone my age had moved in, I was so happy because I thought I had finally found someone to talk to. What I didn't expect is a depressing emo who has no intention of socializing with anyone or anything except that creepy thing that follows you around."

"G-gas?" Gastly whimpered at the backhanded comment. David took a step forward.

"I've watched you for the year that you've been here. You do absolutely nothing. I have no idea how you're even still alive. According to you, you have no aspirations whatsoever. But you don't look content. Every time I see you, you have sad and pitiful expression on your face. Almost as if you're...longing for something."

He took a few more steps closer until they were within the regular talking distance. Ryan turned around and looked down at him, waiting for him to carry on speaking.

"Some of the nosy old hags have gossiped all about you, Ryan. I don't know the full details of your past, but I know one thing – we're very alike in the fact that we have never experienced the joy of a comrade. Not a pokemon, but an actual human to spend time with. To grow up with."

"So what do you want from me?"

"All I want is for you to reconsider your decision to bail and take the easy way out, and continue your journey with me along side you...as your...friend." He began smiling.

Silence surrounded the dark atmosphere, and all that could be heard for what seemed like minutes was the rain rattling the ground below them. Ryan proceeded with his favourite option, and broke the silence:

"...dude, are you fucking gay?"

"…..."

"…..."

"...E-excuse me? No no no, you've got the wrong idea here! Were you even listening?"

"Jesus Christ, now you're blushing aswell! Now I've seen everything..." The taller of the two began speed-walking back to sandgem, hoping that this annoying creepy guy wouldn't follow. All while Gastly was in hysterics, laughing hard. Of course however, nothing ever goes his way. David ran in front of him, and put his arms out, stopping him in his tracks. "Waaaaiiitt waitwaitwaitwait...it came out wrong, ok? I uh...just need someone to travel with. It's always safer with more people and pokemon around, and what with all of these criminals showing up recently, better safe than sorry, am I right?"

"Sorry man, but I've already made up my mind. And I'm a slow walker, you'd probably get annoyed with how lackadaisical I am. Whatever that means...seriously, what does it mean? Someone called me it once."

The other teen sighed and shook his head, before attempting to convince him once more. "Look, one of the main reasons why you lacked resolve back there was because you knew you were screwed, right? You didn't have enough money to find some place to sleep, and someone like you wouldn't be able to walk 2 routes in one day. Plus, you wouldn't have been able to make it back to Sandgem until tomorrow because of the conditions. You knew this, and pretty much gave up on life. Nobody is waiting for you back in that so-called "home". But here's the thing: I have money. Being a lead professor of a region grants you with a lot of payment, and of course being the son of someone famous like that, I can easily get as much money as I want from him. So, if you, someone who looks pretty damn tough comes with me, I'll make sure we both get a place to stay and a decent meal every day. Deal?"

Ryan thought it over, but then admitted defeat. "Fine. Let's head back to Jubilife then, I feel like my legs are gonna drop off..."

"One condition though."

"Oh God..."

"I'm the leader, ok? You're my travelling companion, and you're helping me become the champion. Ok?"

"Sure sure, whatever. We going or what?"

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-da! I updated. Are you proud of me? probably not. I'm REALLY dissapointed with myself so far because of how this fic has turned out. MAINLY because I rushed it yet again. Why am I changing scenes so damn fast? Because I have no idea where I'm going with this. Sorta. Well, no. I already have the general plot written down, but in between the main points of the storyline, I'm kinda lost for what to put. And, like just a few of the other authors on this site, I find battles boring to write, and boring to read. There are only a few battles which I enjoy reading, and those are mainly the gym battles. I mean, it's just...these stupid random trainer battles..they're not story whatsoever. Ah, forgive my melancholy. FUCK I'M RAMBLING AGAIN.<strong>

**BYE. REVIEW IF YOU WANT. JEEZ. **

**...and now I feel awkward. Please don't judge me :(**


	3. Partnering Issues

**Look everyone, it's me! Remember? No? I wrote that story like 8 months ago? Y'know the one? No? Okay. Nevermind. Anyways, a lot of dialogue in this one. Although, there is quiiiiite a bit of description and detail, so I think it turned out ok. It's crazy though...all the pain and frustration I had, typing little bits of chapter 3 trying to get something going, and then after one inspirational moment I suddenly type shit-loads out. Hoorah. We all have one person to thank for that, and I'm sure they know who they are, ohohohoho. Some of you may have to refresh your memories before reading, unfortunately. Teehee.**

**Anyways:**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Partnering Issues<p>

Late night Jubilife. The very definition of "city". It's skyline was lit up like a Christmas tree, and even though it was the early hours of the morning, the city was still as lively as ever. Well, home to both the world famous Jubilife TV Studios and Pok_é_tch HQ, one could only think that it reeled in enough money to stay running 24/7 like this. Oh yes, speaking of Pok_é_tch, a certain two boys had recently acquired their own. It didn't help that one of them shouted various profanities at the annoying clowns which were handing out promotional versions, but the other managed to persuade them to ignore him and hand a couple out. The two mentioned are of course Ryan Ryker and David Rowan, an unlikely party of trainers who just recently began travelling the region of Sinnoh. They were now in one of the tallest buildings in Jubilife, which apparently was a luxurious hotel. They went up the elevator to the 11th floor, and walked a few steps to their one-night apartment room. Using the electronic card key, David opened the door and both of them stepped into the room.

"Oh shit dude. What are you, swimming in gold?" questioned Ryan as he looked around.

His new "partner" suddenly had a smug face. "Hmph. Impressive, no? These are the fruits of my father's labour, and soon to be all mine. Looks like a mere tramp such as yourself cannot comprehend such luxury!" He proclaimed, before letting out an obnoxious laugh.

But said tramp was interested in something else. Narrowing his eyes, he stared at one particular area of the room.

"Hey, were you listening to me?"

"...Wow...is that a double bed?"

"Huh? What are you...oh. I swear, I didn't ask for a doub-"

"I freaking knew it. I already told you bro – I don't swing that way."

"And I already told YOU – neither do I."

"Alright, calm down, it's not a thing to be ashamed of.."

"I'm not gay, for God's sake!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, somewhere in rural east sinnoh, two figures stood under a tree, barely visible due to their black clothing. One of them was constantly grinning.<p>

"Kekeke. Another big haul, am I right? I'm a fucking GENIUS. That's what I am."

The second one who spoke seemed to have a deeper voice: "Shut up, you're making this more annoying than it has to be."

"Don't be mad just because you failed at that one time, and you're never gonna get promoted! Kekeke."

"Stop laughing like that, it's friggin' nasty."

"Keh. Trust me to get partnered with a boring old geezer like you."

"Oh don't worry, with a bit of luck I may just drop dead before you know it."

"Tch. I'd rather kill you myself."

They were then joined by a third man.

* * *

><p>The morning sun pierced through the gaps of skyscrapers, flooding the streets with natural light and awakening those who had a daily routine to fulfill. It was now roughly seven thirty in the morning, the time when Jubilife was at it's quietest. Although, that doesn't necessarily mean it's quiet. Quite the contrary. At any rate, Ryan and David stood at the east exit of the city. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, the latter grabbed both straps of his rucksack.<p>

"Ahhh...smell that air!"

"Smells like shit."

"Shut up. You can't do this without me."

"You'd have a hard time without me."

"Hmph. Well, the day is young, so let's get going while we have the chance. I plan on getting my first badge in the next few days."

Ryan took out a pokeball and dropped it on the ground, releasing Gastly who reacted by flying around him with a mischievous grin, before deciding to float near his shoulder.

"Badges, eh? That reminds me...I was planning on getting a few of 'em myself."

"Ha. There's no way someone of your level will be able to win anything."

"Ugh. So annoying."

The next few hours went by pretty fast. They ran into a lot of wild pokemon, although none interesting enough to catch. They also met a few other trainers heading either way or just out there training, and of course argued over who battled who. Eventually, they agreed on taking turns battling the passing trainers. David had an Elekid and a Buizel, both of which he apparently caught himself, stating that Elekid was his first ever pokemon. Route 203 had nothing out of the ordinary, and in fact was very similar to the previous routes they had passed, since it was just one long straight-forward path with the odd tree and tall grass everywhere. Since it was getting late and they realised that they were almost at their next destination, they decided to start a small fire and rest, attempting to sleep outside. Needless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable night.

When they awoke the next morning, the two stood before a huge structure of rock. It looked to be a mountain, but according to the map, there weren't supposed to be any mountain ranges around here. To the right of the entrance there was a sign post, rather helpfully informing them that it was actually the gate to Oreburgh city. "So...what, is it like an underground city or something?" asked the darker-haired teen.

"Of course not. Well, I'm not too sure. Let's ask that man over there." answered the other, while pointing at a fairly large gentleman with a walking stick. Presumably, he was a hiker. "I'll handle this one, Kanto boy. You don't exactly have what you would call...Social skills".

David then called to the stranger, "Hello sir!"

….no response.

"Oh, you don't exactly have SOCIAL SKILLZ! Derp derp hurr!" came a mocking tone from behind him. Twitching slightly, he ignored the remark and got closer to the hiker.

"Excuse me, sir?"

...still no response.

"Sir? Hello, can you hear m-"

"WHY AYE, HELLO THERE YOUNG 'UN!" **(A/N: Scottish accent.)**

"..hello."

"Sup."

"HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BASTARD OF A CAVE? PRETTY FECKIN' SMALL FOR MY STANDARDS, BUT GREAT FOR ADVENTURE, LADDY!"

"That's wonderful sir. Me and my depressing, lanky companion here were wondering if this..uh...bastard of a cave was the gateway to Oreburgh city."

"OH AYE, LADDEH. IF YER GO THROOOUGH HERE, YER SHOULD END UP IN OREBURGH MATE.."

"Alright. Thank you for your co-operation, sir. And have fun hiking."

Suddenly, the man lost his accent. "Huh? Oh no, I'm not a hiker. I'm just a crazy old man."

"...let's go, Ryan."

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of speed-walking, they finally saw the exit to the cave which would take them to the famous mining city. The shorter one of the two sighed in relief. "Man, am I glad to get rid of that nut-job."<p>

For some reason, Ryan had a huge grin all over his face, and held back a slight laugh before speaking. "That guy is awesome."

"Yes, well you _would_ say that, you weirdo."

"Whatever. Keep your eyes on the damn road, CJ."

"What are you even talking about?"

But before he could answer, their eyes squinted hard from oncoming light. They had now left the cave, and entered Oreburgh city. When their vision returned, they looked around with mild astonishment. The entire place looked like a massive construction site, with diggers and cranes everywhere, and a bunch of neatly placed small houses lined up perfectly.

"Is this city new or something?"

"Hardly. It's been around for years. All of this is explainable, though – they're primarily a mining city and make their money through what they find."

"How very uninteresting. Where's the gym?"

"Hold up, we can't go there just yet. I need to make reservations, and you need to go get some information for your pokedex."

"Pfft. Fuck that. Me and mah pokedudes are gonna go own some ass in the tall grass. And that rhymed slightly."

"No, you're staying with me. You'll probably cause an argument and then be ran out of town if I left you on your own..."

"But I don't waaannaaaa!" Pouted Ryan.

"...You seriously did not just do that."

"Whatever. But I'm not walking around with a fruitcake like you."

"Fine, go find the gym. But _don't, _I repeat DON'T, do anything moronic."

"Sure sure, whatever. You can trust me."

"..."

"Ok you can't, but who cares? See ya."

And with that, they both went their separate ways.

After about an hour of walking around aimlessly with Gastly, he gave up. Why it was so hard to find in such a relatively small place was beyond him, but then again a lot of things were. Bored out of his mind, he decided to wander into a construction site. There were a lot of people there hard at work, but they didn't seem to notice him. As he got nearer to the end of it, there was an entrance to some sort of cave. Outside there was a sign saying:

"_Danger: No unauthorized access"_

But y'know, he didn't actually see it, so he walked in anyways.

Inside it was incredibly hot and noisy, and there were even pokemon like Machop helping out with some of the work. Looking around, there was absolutely nothing interesting whatsoever. That is, until he heard shouting around the corner.

A large clump of rocks which appeared to have fallen down like an avalanche blocked off a section of the mine, and there were miners around it trying to lift boulders out of the way.

"Ah, you! Young man!"

"Sup, what's happenin' man?"

"Our gym leader, Roark, is trapped on the other side of this rubble! There's no other way out for him!"

"Oh."

"...well...could you help us out?"

"You know I'd love to, but I'm kinda a giant pussy."

"Uhh...I um...don't know what to say to that. Do you have any fighting type pokemon which cou-"

"No." interrupted the teenager, before starting to walk off.

"Alright...well please, send for help!"

"I'll...maybe...probably do that...or not. No, I probably won't. Bye."

* * *

><p>David sat in the pokemon center lobby, quietly sipping his coffee which he ordered, to have a little break before trying to find Ryan. "Tch. All this work I do which he benefits from, and all he's probably doing is running around playing with himself." But as soon as he said that, a shadow cast itself over the table in front of him. "Speak of the devil."<p>

"Sup yo. I found the gym leader."

"Great, have a medal. Do you want to go now?"

"Well, he's kinda trapped in a hole with no oxygen."

David spat out his drink and stood up sharply. "What?"

"Relax, all the other miners and stuff are gettin' him out.

"R-right..."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>_

The 3 black figures were now standing a good distance opposite 3 shiny silver figures. The middle of both carrying a briefcase each.

Without saying a word, they both leaned forwards, slowly placed the cases on the floor, pulled their leg back at the same time, and kicked them over to the other sides. The darker figures scrambled to pick up theirs first, and quickly opened it to check that they hadn't been cheated. Inside were stacks of cash. The one with the sadistic-looking grin opened it and smiled once more, before letting out a snidely cackle. "I'll never make this much in my entire life!"

They all turned around and fled the scene.

* * *

><p>The following day, Ryan and David visited Oreburgh gym. It was considerably quiet around there, but then again it was just a town compared to Jubilife. The two knocked on the gym door, presuming that it was locked because it was fairly early in the morning. (One of them was only up at that time because he took naps during the day) Instead of being answered, the door creaked open slightly. They exchanged glances and then peered inside to a rather dark room, the minimal light was shining through the few windows evenly placed along the high walls, and now from the opened door. You could still make out everything in the room though, which included a middle-aged and rather stout man with glasses and a plastic cup of coffee standing by a statue plaque of the gym's recent victorious challengers, aswell as a few gym trainers at the other end doing their morning practice. The type of the gym was given away by the fact that it was filled with artificial boulders and whatnot. Well, the entire city could probably give away what type it was, but whatever.<p>

Careful to not get in the way of a cleaner who was sweeping near the entrance, they walked over to the man with the glasses, who spotted them coming and spoke first: "Hey there, champs in the making. Sorry, but the gym ain't taking challengers at the moment. You'll have to come back a different time."

"Why's that?" asked the professor's son.

"Huh? You guys ain't heard the news? Strange. Roark's been hospitalized after a bad accident in the mines. He probably won't be back tomorrow. Hell, he might not even be back for the rest of the week, although the nurses did say that it was only light injuries, somehow. Lucky kid."

"Ah, so he was put into hospital after all...well, that makes sense. Thanks. Give him our best regards." He and Ryan began to walk of out the gym.

The man smiled. "Alright, I'll tell him. Thanks! You too, Ryan." But as soon as he said that, he retracted his smile and it was replaced with a look of worry. The lad he called stopped and turned around. "Did you just...say my name?"

The older man simply stared at him with the same strange expression, almost as if he didn't know what to say.

"Right...whatever." Ryan eventually grumbled before walking out with his partner.

As the two left, the man continued to stare at the door, except this time he was frowning.

When they got back to the town centre, they stood there and looked around. David spoke up first. "Okay, well since we don't have much better to do...I'm going to go into those caves which we came here by to train up my pokemon. By the time he recovers, the leader will be a piece of cake."

"Mmm, I wonder what flavour he'll be." retorted the other.

"You're not funny."

"I think I am."

David sighed and shook his head. "If you say so. Anyways, I'm off. You should go look for pokemon to fill that up with. I don't know if he told you this, but he's paying you for every pokemon you find."

They both parted ways yet again, the shorter of the two hurrying off before his partner could get a word in edgeways.

* * *

><p>Ryan found himself in quite a grassy area, which was out of town yet so close to it that it almost contrasted and looked out of place. It was the lower part of route 207. Unfortunately, he couldn't get any higher because of a steep mud-slide. A cyclist noticed him looking at it, and decided to show off by riding up and down it on his mountain bike. Ignoring the cocky guy, he walked back to the open field. There he sent out Ponyta, and had both her and Gastly have some sort of brawl with a bunch of wild pokemon. There were a few different types there, namely Geodudes, Machops and Kricketots. There were even a couple of other Ponytas, prompting his own to try harder all of a sudden. He scanned them all accordingly with his pokedex.<p>

Satisfied with a "good day's work", he lay down in some shorter grass, leaving his pokemon out to do whatever. It was sunny and breezy – the best combination. Letting them miss out would be just plain wrong. Ryan closed his eyes and almost fell asleep due to how soothing it was, but was almost immediately awoken from his trance by noisy footsteps a good 50 meters away. Slowly getting up into a seating position, he looked around with a bored expression. Suddenly, something caught his eye. Watching the scene which was the source of all the noise, he noticed a young girl running, package in hand. She looked to be perhaps slightly older than him, perhaps slightly younger, but definitely somewhere around his age. She was petite, and looked no more than 5 and a half foot, although it was difficult to tell from such a distance. The girl also had brilliant hazel eyes that were almost orange because of how bright they were. She appeared to be wearing a light-blue hoody with some jeans. Not exactly the best for running. What caught his eye the most was her noticeable hair with seemed to be dark and black, but had purple tones to make it appear lighter and rather shiny.

He was fascinated to say the least, as he watched her run. It was quite unique and stood out. _Wait a minute...why _is_ she running? _He wondered to himself, before he heard shouting just a bit to the right of where he was looking. Two aliens...wait...men, were chasing after her. They _did _kind of look like aliens though, what with their spacesuits and dyed cyan hair. _Ugh...that looks 'orrible, _Ryan observed as his train of thought continued. The girl looked weak though. She was quite skinny, and her cheeks had gone red already. It was clear that she didn't have any stamina. Inevitably, the men caught up to her and forcefully pushed her to the ground. _Ouch. _They did nothing further, but stole the package she was trying her best to protect. _Oh damn! This shit is awesome. If this is the sort of stuff that happens round here, then sod it – this is totally my new home, man. _Ryan began to grin. The strange-looking men escaped in the opposite direction, and Ryan now noticed that the girl was much closer to him, so much that as he walked closer he could hear her. Also she was a couple inches smaller than first thought.

"Wait..come...come back.." she barely spoke, between panting. "That's...an important..pa-" but she lost her breath, and was cut short by coughing and spluttering. He walked over and simply stood over her for a few seconds. Gastly was also looking at her from above, and Ponyta was in her ball. "Please..." she started, "You've got to get it back for me..."

"No can-do," he replied. "Those guys are long-gone. I'll help you get to the pokemon centre. I mean, hospital. Stupid separate things."

"B-but..I..I can't leave withou-"

"Alright, shut up. You're crazy. Go to sleep or something." Ryan joked at the last part, but funnily enough she passed out anyway.

"Oh for fuck's sake..." he grumbled.

* * *

><p>At the same time, David was sweating and panting from training so hard. A older camper who was passing through grabbed his arm. "Whoa there, son. Calm down, or you'll make the Zubat extinct," he advised, before chuckling light-heartedly. "Your pokemon are pretty tired, and so are you." To his surprise, however, the teenager pushed his arm away aggressively, and without looking in his direction told him: "Our training isn't fun and games. Don't interrupt me...Elekid, one more time – rock-smash that Geodude!" Elekid did just that and slammed down his fist onto the top of the wild pokemon's head, knocking it out instantly. The camper watched on, annoyed. "I was just giving you some needed advice. If you ask me, you should get out of here. The pokemon are all hiding now anyways."<p>

"Shut up, you. I'm going to be the strongest. My family have been high-achievers generation after generation. I won't soil the Rowan name. Buizel, get those fleeing Zubat with your water pulse!"

Shaking his head, the older gentleman decided to leave him alone.

* * *

><p>A purple-haired girl woke up to an almost completely white room. Blinking a few times, her blurry vision started to become more clear. She sat up too fast though, and it became hazy again. Grabbing her head, she closed her eyes and tried to balance herself in what she now knew was a bed. And judging by the sounds and equipment around her, she was in a hospital. <strong>(Is it me, or have I used that word a lot?) <strong>_What happened... _she pondered, trying to recollect her memories. _Oh...that's right...I was delivering that important stuff for Mr. House when...oh no..I've lost it!_

"Sup." came a deep voice from her left, surprising her so much that she squealed slightly. The owner of the voice looked shocked too.

"Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed with a shocked expression, clutching his hoodie where his heart would be. "Way to murder the elderly!" The boy appeared to be leaning back in his chair, with a few strands of his black hair going over his face from moving so fast.

"Wh-what?" she gauped.

"Nothing. So what was your name again? Oh yeah, Senna. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too...what's yours? Wait, how did you know my name?" she moved back slightly in her bed.

"Relax, it was on your name-tag. Looks like you work at the pokemart, eh. Name's Ryan by the way."

"Yeah...I do deliveries." she mumbled, before fidgeting with her sheets. "Nice to meet you too..."

Ryan noticed that she had made little eye contact during their short conversation. _Must be one of those socially awkward people...that's hilarious. _

All of a sudden, the door opened and another young man walked in, holding a couple of drinks. "Sup Dave!" called the boy with the black hair.

"Don't call me Dave, you nuisance. Jeez...imagine how annoying it is when I'm busy training and I have to drop everything because you show up carrying some girl in your arms who looks like she's dead and you're the one who freaking killed her!"

"What, do I look that much like a murderer?"

"Yes, you damn serial killer!"

"I think you look like a fashion designer though."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you've got the hots for every bloke you meet. Including me."

"Ugh, you're an idiot! I am NOT gay!"

"Liar, just come out of the closet already! If you're straight, then I'm Arceus."

"That's who you'll be meeting if you don't shut up!"

The girl, now identified as Senna, began to talk. "Wait, you carried me from route 207?"

The two lads ceased their argument and looked at her. Ryan replied to her: "Huh? Yeah." She seemed to be embarrassed by this and looked back down to her sheets.

"Look what you've done, you serial killer. You've made her uncomfortable with your evil eyes."

"Fuck off, Gok Wan." he glared.

Trying his best to ignore him, David introduced himself to Senna. "Pleased to meet you, I'm David Rowan, son of the one and only Professor Rowan. And, I don't like being modest, so I'll tell you up front – I'm a prodigy when it comes to pokemon." She smiled slightly at his enthusiasm and then looked at the other. "So..what about you, Ryan?"

He grinned and went into an obnoxious pose of folding his arms. "Well...I don't like being modest either, so i'll tell you this up front – I can eat 20 bowls of cereal in a single hour." The other two teenagers sweat-dropped. "Quite clearly, I'm better than him."

"No no, don't believe a word he says. I'm the strongest here."

"Bullshit, you big girl." Ryan hissed.

"Oh, you wanna go? We'll have a battle outside to see who the strongest is." David got out of his seat in an attempt to intimidate.

"Huh? No, I don't actually care."

"You're wimping out at the last minute? Ha."

"No, really, you've got like...way more experience than me."

"Battle me now, damnit."

Gastly and his trainer sighed, the latter of which also pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Fiiiiiiiine."

* * *

><p><strong>Okaaaay! Soooo...no battle this chapter. Unless you count that mighty badass spot of training. That may be a good or bad thing, but I think I should have somehow included one in there...hm. Anyways, most of this was pretty fun to write. I like sorta comediclight-hearted dialogue, and characters who are very different interacting with each other in a very animated way. This time, I'm actually requesting criticism. If you want, make it aggressive. In fact, yeah, maybe i'd prefer that. Or at least, I'm trying to say that you don't need to hold back. Mention and point out every last damn mistake or bad thing or idea that you spot.**

**Ramblerambleramble, shut up FFS. And by that I mean "Fanficssuck", not "For fuck's sake". Why the hell did I choose this name again? Lmfao.**


	4. Welcome to the World of Pokemon

**Sup. First off, EXTREMELY sorry for how rather late this is. I would have uploaded it like a week and a few days ago, but something very important came up. Real life first, I'm afraid. BUUUUT, I made it quite long to make up for it! Slightly less light-hearted up until near the end, and not as much dialogue up until near the end, but I think it turned out how I wanted it to. Also, you'll notice that in this chapter (and of course future chapters) pokemon will use moves which perhaps they particularly cannot use in the games. I don't care. A pokemon with fists who cannot learn Mach Punch using Mach Punch is an example of what I mean, anyway. Because basically, I'm just trying to keep it relatively realistic...as you will see by one specific moment in this chapter where a pokemon attacks without using an actual named attack. Oh, and also, the battles have a possibility of getting graphic. Because I'm a sick fuck lololol.**

**Anyways:**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Welcome to the world of Pokémon.<p>

The climate of Oreburgh isn't actually that exotic. Sure, it was warm almost all year around, but for the most part it was average warmth. It's just that the desert-looking surroundings and the workers sweating whilst working in harsh conditions makes it seem much warmer than it actually is. The day two very different yet similar trainers took the first pokemon league step was an example of this. It had been a week since the rather costly incident of the collapsing mine tunnel, and Roark had made a miraculous recovery. He was still quite a young leader. The son of Byron, Canalave City's gym leader. He had chosen not to follow the steel type like his father, but rather took an interest in gems and rocks under the Earth, most likely due to being born and raised in Oreburgh, when the mine was newly-opened and it had only recently gained it's city status. When he was 18, he was deemed independent enough to be left alone, and so Byron, at the time 48, left his son for the port city some fair distance away. 5 years since then, and Roark thought he was nowhere near the quality you would expect, knowing his father.

He was still officially the first gym leader, and although you could take the gyms on in any order you wished, everybody went for him first. Straight to the backwater town of Oreburgh, just to get his badge "out of the way". It knocked his confidence a little at first, but he came to the conclusion that due to his time-consuming hobby of helping out in the mines, he wasn't going to improve that much. And what, after the accident, he'd become very shaken up. But still, he had challengers to face, and he realized that his role was to give relatively new trainers a bit of a wake-up call, allowing them to get a taste of how a professional trainer battles, along with the ability of pedigree pokemon.

Ryan and David sat in a cafe in the town center. It was coming up to midday, and they had just about woken up. Well, almost.

"Oreburgh's gym leader is a rock-type user, so Buizel will be perfect for this matchup...however, Elekid knows some strong fighting-type moves, and ground-type moves won't necessarily be one of the rock's strong points, so initially I could use him as some sort of baiting strategy to bring out anything that could use ground to it's advantage, and then use Buizel to counter, before-"

"Shut uuuuuuup..." groaned a very tired teenager with the side of his head leaned on the table, Gastly attempting to copy him. "Why the hell did we have to wake up so early? I need my serial killer sleep."

"Be quiet, you. This is the price you pay for refusing to battle me after all. Even after a week has past, you still haven't battled me yet! But luckily, the gym is open for business again, so I don't need you."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, sure."

David got out of his seat and grabbed the other's arm. "Come on, let's go." Attempting to drag him, Ryan fell out of his seat and just lay on the ground, one arm in the air being pulled by his annoyingly forceful partner. "Five more minutes..." he mumbled, pretty much talking into the dirt.

"Ugghh," grunted the shorter lad as he strained to pull the other, scraping him along the ground and thus attracting the curious attention of passers-by. "Get...the hell...UP!"

* * *

><p>Three dark figures were running through the night, briefcase in hand. As he began to get tired, one of them stopped, leaned on his knees and stood there, breathing hard, attempting to get his breath back. The other two stopped. The one holding the case ceased grinning and became fairly annoyed. Tossing what he was carrying to the old-looking grunt, (who was surprised that he still had more stamina than the tired one in front of him) he walked towards him, ranting to no-one in particular. "Man, these rocket kids sure are pussies. A bunch of amateur criminals." The out-of-breath grunt looked up to him in confusion. "What are you talking about? You're one t-" he began, but did not finish, for he felt a sharp sensation around his throat. Slowly, he brought his hand up to his neck, and then pulled it away, looking at his palm. Blood. Knowing that he failed completely, he realized that something much more important had happened than his own death. Something that he would die for anyway.<p>

And then he collapsed.

The culprit smiled once more, and continued walking with his partner.

* * *

><p>Standing outside of the gym in the blazing sun for the second time, Ryan and David simply stood there and observed the building. Neither of them spoke a word, and it was almost as if they were having some sort of ritual to make the atmosphere more tense. For inside, they would begin one of the most gruelling tasks in poke-<p>

"This is awkward."

"Shut up."

At any rate, they stood outside for a bit whilst looking rather strange to normal people, before finally deciding to open the doors and enter. It was almost the same as the first time they went in, bar one or two more trainers there, who were probably going to spectate the matches as part of their training. Probably expected their leader to win, aswell. The same, plump man was there with the same coffee, beaming as if he had just won the lottery up in Jubilife. Ryan was no longer wary of him though, as he had actually forgotten about what the man had said that day.

"Yo, champs-in-the-making! You wanna dream BIG? The Gym Leader is a user of Rock-type Pokémon. Well, listen. Rock-type Pokémon really hate water, all right? They're also weak to Grass-type moves. Gee, they sure have weaknesses! But don't think it will be easy. You don't get to be a Gym Leader without covering for weaknesses. Going after a Rock-type Pokémon with a Fire-type Pokémon won't be easy, either. That's all the advice I can give. Thanks for listening!"

David appeared to look down on him. "Hmph. What basic advice. We're not mere rookies, you know. Well, he is."

"Actually, I'm no-"

"Be quiet, Ryan. I'll show everyone here the power of a Rowan."

And so he walked along stepped up to the actual arena. Roark, with a friendly face, reached out and shook his hand, to which his challenger obliged. He had burgundy-like hair, regular glasses, and was wearing a grey jacket that looked like some sort of construction uniform, and had the bottoms to match it. On his feet were black boots, and on his head, for some reason, was a hard-hat. He looked fairly young in appearance. "Hi there, nice to meet you! Just so you know, I won't go easy on you. Let's have a great battle, and I wish you the best of luck!"

"Hmph. You'll be the one begging for mercy." he spitefully replied, snatching away from the greeting. They walked back to their designated areas and readied themselves. There weren't really any seats in the gym, so Ryan joined some of the gym trainers and just leaned up against the wall in a corner of the room. The leader sent out his first pokemon, a Geodude, and the battle had begun.

The confident challenger sent out his Elekid. Starting the match off with a bang, he ordered Elekid to run up to him and rock smash right off the bat. Half-expecting this from his attitude, Roark got his own pokemon into a defence curl, to prepare for the impact. It was to no avail however, as the punch was so much stronger than he first thought, and Geodude was already dizzy. Realizing the inevitable, he used Stealth Rock just before being swung to the side by a low-kick to the face. The rocks were buried around the arena, only detectable by other rock and ground types. "Elekid, watch out for those!" warned his trainer, while he was carefully making his way back so he could be returned.

"Onix, come on out!" called the rock-type master from across the other side, to which David countered with his Buizel. Unfortunately, said Buizel landed straight on one of the stealth rocks as soon as he came out, sending pain through him and slightly numbing his left foot almost immediately. Onix took advantage of this and darted forward, screeching as he went along in order to unnerve his target. But his opponent had too much experience to lower his defence like that, and dodged it. (David also had to move out of the way for the sheer size of Onix) "Rock throw, now!" The snake-like pokemon, with surprising pace, quickly turned around and threw boulders at Buizel. "Buizel, break them with your water gun, and then blast through with Aqua jet!" Gym leaders weren't supposed to underestimate their opponents. Especially not after they had had one of their pokemon instantly knocked out. But for some reason, Roark underestimated him anyway. He didn't expect his opponent's command to work, since water gunning each of the separate boulders and then having enough energy to use an aqua jet across the distance wasn't something a relatively new trainer could do, and simply allowed Onix to wait to see the impact.

Quite clearly, he was wrong. Well, partially. True, a regular trainer couldn't train his pokemon to do it in such a short time. But David wasn't regular. In astonishing speed, his pokemon completed his orders and collided into the huge pokemon in a jet of water, catching it completely off guard, and then quickly finishing it off with swift. Roark stood there for a moment, once again in awe. _This boy...is a prodigy. _Knowing that now he would have to be more serious than he had ever been in a while, he sent out his first ever, and in this case final, pokemon – Cranidos. The young dinosaur was actually rather intimidating. It leered at Buizel and began pulling back it's foot along the ground, as if it were ready to charge any second.

The gym leader furrowed his eyebrows and he looked hard at the prodigy. He was smiling. Was he overconfident? Or was he better still? There was only one way to find out. "Cranidos, buddy...be careful not to stay too close to that pokemon if you don't hit him." Cranidos looked up towards his trainer, and then back at the one he would be fighting. It took just one look to notice that Roark was right, although he would have taken his word anyway. He trusted him a lot. He finally began his charge after being ordered to go for a straight headbutt. "Buizel, quick attack around to his side and hit him with swift!"

"Cranidos, take the damage with your head and finish off with a pursuit!" David's pokemon swerved around first, and used the swift. His opponent allowed the stars to hit his head, which enabled him to continue running towards the water type and use his pursuit attack. However, still one step ahead, Buizel easily evaded the attack, and without order, swung around his lower body, attempting to hit the other pokemon with a quick tail whip. Cranidos showed off his experience aswell by surprisingly blocking the tail with his upper arm, the way a martial artist would. The otter-like pokemon retreated slightly, before unleashing a sharp water gun which was yet again deflected by his opponent's powerful cranium. Roark saw the opportunity. "Finish him off with a take down! Don't hold back!" David ordered the dodge, but Buizel couldn't react in time. With an almighty roar, he got pummelled into the ground, instantly fainting after coughing up a spurt of blood.

"Jesus Christ." muttered Ryan, rather surprised at the brutality. The other spectators seemed to be used to it. David, however, was also quite shocked, what with is being his first serious battle and whatnot. Whispering comfort to his tired pokemon, he returned it. He wasn't going to give it up when he clearly had the advantage though, and sent out his barely fatigued Elekid with confidence. "Elekid, watch out for stealth rocks and use quick attack!" The electric pokemon ran over to the dinosaur at immense speed, but the latter saw through it quite easily, and responded by charging in for the headbutt. Using his quick wits, David called hurriedly before the engagement: "Feint it! Let him through and then grab him!" Neither of the two on the opposing side were expecting this and Roark stared on, wide-eyed; Elekid side-stepped at the last minute, and low-kicked with momentum. Whilst the Cranidos dived from being tripped, Elekid grabbed him and then swung him down towards the ground harder than necessary, making sure that the battle had been won.

And indeed it had been won. Victory was David's. After he realized this, he picked up his prized pokemon and had a short celebration with it. It was the first time Ryan had seen him with such a genuine smile. All the bitterness had now gone, and he shook hands with Roark (who congratulated him rather enthusiastically, obviously impressed.) and even showed concern for his pokemon. The gym leader reassured him with the fact that they were used to fighting, being healed, and then fighting almost immediately after. He awarded him with the badge and gave him his prize money. The second challenger's eyes lit up.

"Ah, yeah, Brock, or whatever your name was, I just remembered that I'm also here to challenge you," Ryan told Roark after interrupting the little ritual.

The leader looked over to him with a confused look. "Huh?...oh yeah, sorry, just...spaced out there. I'll be with you in a bit, my pokemon should be healed and ready to go in 20 minutes or so."

With a yawn, David walked over to Ryan as he began to leave. "As much as I want to watch you battle so I have some knowledge for when we do so ourselves, I'm afraid I'm too tired at the moment. I'll catch you later." Putting his hand on the other lad's broad shoulders in a patronizing way, he wore a cocky smirk. "Don't cry too hard if you lose."

"Shut up, or i'll tell everyone about how you fantasize over that girl from the pokemart." Although it was a lie, this caught the attention of other people in the gym, causing the professor's son to become flustered.

"Wh...WHAT? You're blatantly talking nonsense! That's not true at all!"

"Oh sure, sure...I wonder what those noises were when I woke up in the middle of the night..."

"I-I'm serious, you annoying bastard! Don't cause misunderstandings!"

This time, it was Ryan holding the cocky smirk. "Oh right, of course! I apologise...I forgot that you preferred men. Specifically me."

"I AM NOT SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO YOU OR ANY OTHER MAN. And it's not unnatural, so stop trying to use it as an insult!"

"Hey, you're the one who finds it embarrassing, hahaha!" He began coughing from laughing so hard.

"Uggghh! Just...battle him, and make it quick. Come back to the room after. Nuisance..." David grumbled to himself while he walked towards the exit and left. Ryan turned around to face Roark and casually stared at him, hands in pockets as usual. "So...Ryan, was it? You...wanna uh, battle? Or what?"

"Yeah, ok."

"..."

"..."

"Shall we...start then?"

"...yeah, ok."

They both got into their positions, and Gastly suddenly swooped down from his shoulder. "Whoa there bro, it's ladies first...or something. I don't know. But yeah, I'm sending out Ponyta first, so you get your non-existent ass back up there, son." Gastly gave a "keh" sound in frustration and flew back up to him. Once one of the gym trainers had signalled the start of the battle, Roark sent out his Geodude, who, as he had said, recovered at a remarkable rate. Gym pokemon were probably trained to have a lot of stamina so they could take challengers all day. Perhaps it was the machines distributed by the Pokémon League which allowed miraculous healing for gym use only. Well, you could buy one for personal use if you had a few million to spend. In response to the geodude, Ryan sent out Ponyta, like he had said. The fat man with glasses at the entrance narrowed his eyes and began to watch very carefully.

Roark frowned and became clearly agitated by Ryan's choice._ This kid is seriously underestimating me because of that boy who beat me just now. _"A fire type like that against my pokemon? Your friend may be a prodigy, but you're in way over your head! Geodude, run at him and rock throw at close range!"

But all Ryan suddenly smiled. And then his grin grew wider, and it looked as if he was almost trying to hold back evil laughter. Gastly also began to laugh, licking out his giant tongue in the process. All of a sudden, the trainer stooped down and began saying stuff in his fire pokemon's ear. The rock-type leader couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but he could see that he was...rapping? No, he was simply talking fast. _But why is he doing that?_

It did not matter to him though, as geodude was about to unleash is attack. Just before the second of impact however, Ponyta swerved out of the way, and using some fancy footwork, managed to completely confuse the geodude and get an ember hit in. Although it wasn't very effective, it still caught it off guard.

For the next 5 minutes or so, it was geodude thrashing away with his fists and using slight magnitude attacks every now and again, while ponyta was dodging it all, and using multiple moves together as combos. That wasn't the only strange part, though – Roark had been shouting his head off, frantically trying to get a hit in, whilst Ryan was just standing there. "What's going on? Rock throw again!" But then the rock trainer began to get even more angrier. He looked over to his opponent, and saw him lying down, arms folded behind his head. "It's useless.," he called from his lay down position. "I've already told her what to do – there's no way she'll lose to such a slow pokemon."

Roark was about to question him again, until realization dawned upon him. "...oh. Of course. I completely forgot. My friend Brock, all the way in Kanto, told me about a trainer, dubbed as 'The Snake of the Island' among the gym leaders there. A young boy, despised by all of his peers, who obtained six badges with just a single Gastly, before being banned from the Kanto League for pokemon cruelty."

Ryan said nothing, and allowed him to continue.

"That trainer gave no orders, apart from at the start of every battle. And in every one of those battles, he would purposely try to inflict unnecessary pain on his opponents. That trainer...was you."

"...nope."

"..huh? What?"

"That ain't me, man. I think you're confused with somebody else."

"What the...No no, you're definitely him! You even have a similar appearance to the description!"

"Yup. Definitely confused. Well, I just changed my mind by the way. I can't be arsed with this battle, too hot in here, y'know? Come on, girl." He returned Ponyta. "You'll get your chance another day." He turned on his heel like a pivot, and began walking off.

"Are you serious?"

"Yep. Don't need yo money anyway son, I'm rolling with Richie Rich."

Roark hunched slightly and just let his arms limp, with his mouth gaping open. "You're...you're a freaking weirdo! You're honestly the strangest person I've ever met!" He hollered at the tall figure who was now leaving the building.

The gym guide was smiling to himself, as he watched where the boy had just been. _Damn, Michael. You would have been disappointed. But to think there's a slight chance he might have been The Snake of the Island...well, that's just something those stuck-up pricks talk about to make their lives more dramatic. Hehehe. This guy is definitely gonna cut it._

* * *

><p>"Somewhere", "something" had happened. Perhaps you might call the "somewhere" the underworld, as it is known to unaware, perhaps normal, people. The "something" was possibly one of the most influential occurrences imaginable. If one were to attempt to vaguely describe it, you could say that it was the ignition of an endless conflict. Three organisations. Three clans. Three hidden empires, shrouded only by their own disguised existence. They were definitely there, and so was he.<p>

The holyland.

In a dimly lit facility, there was a dimly lit room. The light was constantly flickering, and drops of water fell into the slight pools below. Furniture combined with a broad and brooding man created a scene similar to that of a 1950's drama. He was sitting in a huge chair, even compared to himself, and was slouching slightly. He wore a fedora, half tilting diagonally across his face, eyes gazing at the other side of the room, yet seeing nothing. Slowly but surely, as if he were a machine, he repeatedly placed a cigar in this mouth, took a drag, and let his arm drop again. His clothes were vintage and very godfather-like, yet very dirty and scruffy. To summarise, he looked half-dead.

One knock.

Two knocks.

Three.

On the fourth knock, he shifted his eyesight to the door, and after a few seconds, faintly called for the person to enter. A young, skinny man dressed all in black including a flat cap entered rather hurriedly, gingerly closing the door and then taking a few steps towards the intimidating gentleman in front of him. An awkward silence, reflecting the new man's personality, then followed, until he swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. "Uhmm...yeah, so I...I uh, I just...I mean, we lost contact with uh, J..Johnny. I think. I think his name is that, I meant, I meant... Yeah."

The seated man, still appearing as if he was on the verge of going unconscious kept the same tired look and then finally replied. "Oh right. The one who was getting the case with those other two?" He actually spoke in an extremely slow way, and it seemed that although he wanted to sigh, he had sighed so much in his life that he had no air left to do so.

"Yes sir."

Another pause, and he placed his cigar in an ash tray, looked to the right slightly, and just stared at the floor.

"...I really liked that guy aswell..."

The man standing up stayed silent, not knowing what to say, and not wishing to say anything either. What this once obscurely feared man had now become was saddening.

* * *

><p>"You WHAT?" screeched David, his voice going high-pitched in the process.<p>

Ryan put his finger in his ear and fiddled around, with an annoyed face. "My ear...damnit. Like I said, I forfeited. I didn't feel like it today."

"WHY NOT? You've GOT to be kidding me. I mean, you kept me waiting only for you to give up? You're a pain the ass, you know that?"

"You too. Besides, can't I just go back to here? You can do 'em in any order, y'know."

"Yes, that may be, but but...you just...ARGH, nevermind." He pinched his nose in frustration, and put one hand just above his hip. "You probably wouldn't win, anyways. Let's go."

"Oh boy, another long-ass trip! I love travelling with Mr. Personality-of-a-Cardboard-Box!"

"Be quiet, you." David reached into his bag and pulled out a map. "Anyways, let's see here...we're gonna have to go back to Jubilife and travel up through floaroma town, before...going past the...and then...damn, it's quite a way aways. The next gym, that is."

Ryan suddenly got interested. "Show me the map. Where's the next one again?"

"There, in Eterna City."

"Can't we just go up through route one hundred and something? North of Oreburgh?"

"Nope. Well, we could if we had a couple of mountain bikes or something, but the terrain is pretty steep and rough, you'd slip and snap into two."

"Harsh. But I think you're just scared of getting dirty."

"Excuse me?"

"Heh, whatever man. Let's get going anyways, I'm bored."

They both began to walk towards the Oreburgh Cave leading to route 203, before a quiet yet audible voice came from behind. "Um...excuse me!"

The two lads stopped in their tracks (and their debate which they were having) and turned around to find the petite purple-haired girl they had encountered last week. Well, they visited her again a couple of days ago to see if she was doing alright, but that was about it. They were pretty much just slightly more than strangers, but not quite acquaintances. "Ah, it's you, the delivery girl." Noted David. She was wearing the same as she was before she was admitted to hospital.

"Uhm, yes. Thank you, I didn't think you two would remember me..." Senna started, before looking at the ground.

"Well, I'm sorry if I looked like I had alzheimer's." Ryan jokingly replied.

She glanced upwards quickly with a shocked expression and began panicking. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to annoy you or anything.."

The boy became confused. "Dude, it was just a joke. Don't shit yourself."

David nudged him with his elbow. "Sorry about the misunderstanding. What is it you came to us for?"

"Well, first off, to say thanks..."

"For the millionth time..." muttered Ryan. They both looked at him.

"...OH, did I say that out loud? Ahhh...right..nevermind."

Senna continued. "Yeah...so, also, I have a big favour to ask you both. Would you let me...come with you to Eterna?"

"...huh?"

"You're both going to Eterna, right? I need to get back to the pokemart there...it's where I work."

"Why can't you go yourself?" Questioned David.

"Because I um...don't have a pokemon.."

"So you want us to be your bodyguards?" Ryan Frowned. "Fuck that, go by yourself. Last thing I need is another annoying person. This wasn't in the job description, y'know."

The smaller boy looked at him. "Knowing my father, there wasn't _anything _in the job description."

"Tru dat."

"Well...what was your name? Senna? I'm sorry, but although he was a little rude, he has a point. I don't think we could spare the supplies."

The girl began to panic again. "Oh no, don't worry! I have my own! Please, let me come with you!"

Although David was about to protest, Ryan surprisingly interrupted him. "Sigh, alright, whatever. You can come. But first we need to catch you a pokedude...ah! I just remembered." He pulled out a blue pokeball with red lines curving round from either side. The Rowan got interested.

"Whoa whoa, hold up there, when and where did you get that great ball? And what's inside it?"

"Oh, some guy dropped it."

"What? Which guy?"

"I dunno, but he looked familiar...I coulda sworn he's been following us."

"Don't be stupid. Anyways, did you seriously steal a pokemon?"

"Maybe. It didn't look like an accident, he probably didn't want it."

"Oh, of course. Yeah, people do that nowadays. Yeah, totally. And I'm in the elite four, you moron. People like him would probably sell it if they didn't want it."

"Well in that case, I did the pokemon a favour, right?"

"That doesn't make it right to steal pokemon!

"Ugh, stop lecturing me. You're like my grandma."

"What? I am NOT lecturing you, nor am I like your grandma whom I have never met!"

Ryan started laughing creepily. "Hehehe..."

"What? What did your disgusting mind think of?"

"Granny David. That sounds so funny. It should be your new name."

"No, it shouldn't. Shut up."

"Grandma, why are you so annoying?"

"I'm warning you."

"Grandma, why are you so sexually attracted to your grandson?"

David popped a vein in his head. "THAT DOES IT!"

"Me? A pokemon trainer?" Interrupted the mousey voice for the second time. They both stopped and looked at her. Her lies lit up and she seemed to be extremely excited.

Ryan pushed (well, literally threw) the person he was arguing with off him and handed her the ball. "Sure, if you want. See what's inside, 'cos I don't actually know."

_Wow..._ she thought. _My first pokemon! I've never had the chance to have my own before..._oozing with anticipation, Senna grasped the ball, and pulled her arm back, preparing to throw it. "Pokemon, I choose you!"

Before he even knew what hit him, David was writhing around on the floor, clutching his jewels. Ryan could not contain his laughter any longer.

"PFFFT, HAHAHA!" He brought his hands to his knees and the upper part of his body moved like a see-saw, which continued as he fell into a fit of laughter on the floor. The perpetrator, now looking like she wanted to kill herself, had a look of sheer dismay. "OH MY GOD! I'm so so so so so so sorry! I uh...should I...oh, what should I do?"

The teen who had been hit in the balls glanced upwards and gave her a look that told her that he'd gladly aid in killing her. "For a start, you can stop using those cheesy-ass lines, and LEARN PROPER HAND-EYE CO-ORDINATION, YOU CLUMSY GIRL!"

She blushed an incredibly deep shade of red, and apologized as if she was before God on judgement day. The other, who was still laughing, was finally able to speak. "Oh my God...damn, that's cute. You're useless." Which caused the girl to become even more embarrassed. Eventually, David got back on his feet and panted. "Never...do that...again...hoo...damn. Anyways, what was in the pokeball?" But their answer was given by the answer itself, as they turned their attention a loud squeak, which sounded as if it was meant to inform them it was there. What they saw was a rather small pokemon...which just so happened to look like a ball of fur. Well, until closer inspection, to see that it did actually have facial features, including a tiny button snout. It's fur also had slight silver lines going along it's body.

"Oh my gosh! It's so cuuuute!" squealed Senna, almost forgetting that she was in company. "...what is it?"

David answered her. "I believe it's a Swinub." You just know that if he was wearing glasses, he would push them up around about now.

"Wow, my first pokemon is so cute!" She held out her arms, and the Swinub jumped into them, allowing her to pick it up level with her chest. "This is so exciting! When are we leaving?"

Ryan smirked. "Pack yo bags, sista. You aboutta see a _lotta_ excitin' things."

* * *

><p><strong>Cool beans. <strong>**If you have any dissapointments you would like to share, e-mail me at GoAndGetYourselfFeckled dot com, and I will gladly reply as soon as I am on my death bed. **

**But in all seriousness...actually, I was being serious there. But yeah, I think I've finally found a nice pace for the story progression, what, after the third chapter and this one. And wouldja look at that - Senna is gonna travel with them to Eterna City! How splendid. My ovaries are quivering right now. Or rather, they would be, if I actually had some. I really don't know what to put here, so I'll stop being awkward. DURR HURR.**


	5. How the Earth Spun

**This chapter is huge. I am forgiven. Originally I thought about splitting the chapter up, but then I thought "Lol fuck off." I need to type something here by the way, or else I can't use the cheesy "anyways: enjoy" thing I'm trying to force upon myself as a signature thing. Did you know that there is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way? It helps to prove that the Milky Way is actually one of the oldest galaxies in the universe, meaning we're near to the center of the universe, meaning that there is most likely no extra-terrestrial life any closer to the center than we are, so it's all further out, but further out is light-years away, and thus life would be relatively young, taking the same amount of time to evolve as we did or maybe longer, meaning that, most likely, even in our children's children's children's children's children's lifetime, Aliens will not be seen. ALTHOUGH, we most likely would have terraformed and colonized another celestial body by then. There, that should be enough.**

**Anyways:**

**Enjoy.**

****How the Earth Spun

Route 203. The perfect place for campers. With a relatively mild climate and plenty of sunshine, it makes a wonderful spot for anyone who just wants to take the nature in. All of the pokemon species in the area are either docile or just not vicious, and there's even a lake to satisfy both fishermen and passers-by alike. **What, I didn't mention the lake last time? You didn't ask. **Truly, it is the perfect spot. Unless of course you can hear shouting and arguing with a large helping of profanity. Not exactly the best thing at eleven in the morning.

Two lads were walking down the dirt path, both holding the same large map. The taller, darker-haired one was grabbing and pulling on the left side, whereas his partner was doing so to the right. They were closely and rather gingerly followed by a young, pretty girl who was careful not to get too close to them.

"I'm tellin' yer Richie, we're going THIS way." Ryan proclaimed, prodding a location with his finger.

David did the same. "And I'm telling YOU, we're going...THIS way!"

"Why the hell would we go THAT way? Floaroma's over there, you twat!"

"Obviously you're blind then, because it's over THERE!"

"Don't be stupid, you daft wanker! You're the blind one here, I'm pointing straight fucking at it!"

"No, you absolute moron! That's the freaking pokemon league!"

"Listen, right – I'm making the decisions here. Your finger is a gaydar, it only points to the nearest fashion show."

"Oh shut up, you're just trying to make this personal!"

"Well it always is with you!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, REALLY."

"Well you're just an...arrghh, whatever! Why am I even taking you seriously?"

"Because you know I'm always right."

"No you're not, be quiet and let me think!"

"Don't strain yourself too much, dear!"

"Say that again, asshole!"

Senna interrupted them. "Um...guys!"

They both turned around simultaneously. "WHAT?"

She instantly took about 3 steps back. "N-nevermind...I-I was just gonna say that we've been standing next to a sign post for the past few minutes..."

Almost immediately, they ceased their anger and stood there with expressionless faces. Slowly, they turned around and looked at the sign. Gastly began a raspy laugh. Ryan lifted his arm and pointed at one particular part.

"Oh look...Floaroma is...where you were pointing."

"...I want to murder and destroy every last thing that is even remotely important to you."

"Teehee."

"Don't do that."

* * *

><p>In the Holyland, everyone was already making preparations. Soldiers of a dark-clothed military began marching out, collecting a pokeball or two and then making their way through the night. Men dressed in a similar yet distinctively different way were also stealthily making their way to the same location, aswell as others wearing brightly-tinted uniforms.<p>

A mastermind crime lord, a deranged scientist, and an even more deranged scientist (arguably on the brink of insanity) were not going to lose tomorrow or the day after. Not again.

* * *

><p>It was late into the evening when they arrived back at Jubilife city, so they decided to stay there for the night. Unfortunately, David blew most of his money on the luxurious hotel the first time around, and would have to wait till the end of the week for the next big wad of cash from his father, and so they slept in a derelict inn, which was somehow strangely still in business, even though it looked as if it had been condemned, and the owner was an old woman who had given up on life. Also the floors were damp with something other than water. Other than that, it was a relatively comfortable stay. Of course, they couldn't eat the food there, doing so would probably make them contract pokerus. So earlier they sent out Ryan to go to the nearest store and grab breakfast for them for tomorrow. Senna and David sat the cheap wooden table in their room, patiently waiting even though their stomachs were growling like growlithes. "I wonder what he's gonna get..." the girl spoke up, attempting to start conversation. Not something she was very skilled in. David flicked to the next page of the newspaper he was reading and answered while reading it. "Who knows. We're allowed to use all the cooking appliances, and he's got a big appetite, so...loads of bacon and stuff? Something like that? Probably."<p>

But when Ryan arrived back, all excitement left their bodies as they saw what he was carrying. "Sup guys. I've returned from the promised land to give you all gifts from the Gods."

A vein slowly popped in David's forehead. "Ryan...what the hell is that?"

"Eh? It's Weetos, of course. Everybody loves weetos, foo'."

"You brought us...cereal? Out of all the things...you bought nine boxes of freaking WEETOS?"

"Well, they ARE delicious...right Gas?" His ghost pokemon nodded twice.

"We haven't had a meal since noon yesterday, you moron! We can't fill up on..that...that...it's not even proper food! It's for lazy neets like you! That's not a meal!"

"Well excuse me, princess. I thought you had good taste in food."

"IT'S NOT FOOD! YOU BOUGHT US CEREAL, YOU MORON!"

Senna giggled, and watched on amused as the they continued their debate.

* * *

><p>When morning came, the three were already out and about, ready to continue. Almost. David took a deep breath similar to how he did last time he left Jubilife, and proudly placed his hands on his hips, making sure to spread his legs out a bit. "Well, it's a brand new day, and a fresh start. Let's get going!"<p>

The other two behind him, however, had bags under their eyes and were frowning quite heavily, yawning every so often. "I don't understand why on God's Earth I have to wake up at, like, seven in the bloody morning every day, just because you're a sad bastard."

"I have to admit, I'm also kinda tired..." concurred Senna.

"Come now!" The more peppy member of the party started, causing the other two to cringe. "You guys should be full of energy, we're not elderly people, you know!"

"I wish I was..." muttered Ryan.

"Just look at all of these other people rushing around, they don't complain."

"They have a job to do, they get paid for it, they have a nice cup of coffee every morning, and they probably think of new, fun ways to slaughter their boss every day."

"Well, whatever. I'm going on ahead then. Don't take too long now, haha!"

Ryan murmured some inaudible curse under his breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. He turned his head and looked at the small girl to his right. "Yeah...you probably won't get used to it, but whatever. You'll be back in Eterna in no time. Well at least you should hope so." With that, they continued onwards at a slow pace, too tired to move any faster.

Surprisingly though, they caught up to David rather quickly, noticeably because he was standing still. Upon walking close, they saw that he was actually talking to someone. Getting closer still, they found out that it was his father, Professor Rowan. He also had an assistant with him, but that's not really important. What was important was that there were...astronauts? Next to the professor, and David was reaching for his elekid.

"Oh, you're going for it, huh kid?" taunted one of the men, who had cyan-coloured hair, and was wearing some sort of chrome suit which looked like it had been stolen from the set of a sci-fi film. Ryan walked over and casually stood close to the strangers, giving them a gormless grin. "Hey there."

"...hi?"

"You look rather kinky in that outfit, might I say."

"The hell? What the fuck do you want, kid?"

"Oh, you know, just wanted to see this battle. Looked like fun."

The second man suddenly twitched, and became angry. "Tch. This kid's tryina be funny! You take the cocky brat over there, I'll deal with this idiot no problem." His cohort nodded and smirked.

"Heh. Originally we just wanted the brainiac's research papers, but it looks like we'll get to steal all of your pokemon aswell!"

Senna seemed to get slightly scared, and took a few steps back, blending in with the small crowed of about 10 who had stopped to watch. The professor let out a hearty yet desperate-sounding laugh. Ryan could swear that there were tears of relief forming in his eyes. "Ah! Thank God! Ahaha, looks like my saviours have arrived! You guys have come to save me, so I guess it's all alright now! Ahaha!"

But then, Ryan squinted and looked at Rowan hard. "Uhhh..." he let his mouth hang rather low. "Who are you again?"

"...R...Ryan? This isn't the time for joking around, beat this strange fellow here!"

"Yikes, peado. No thanks."

The strange man who had challenged the teenager looked confused. "Wait...you don't know this old guy?"

"Nope. That means I can go now, right?"

"Uh...yeah...I guess that's okay..."

"Thanks, brah." He walked away for about five seconds, before realisation hit the man. "...AH! WAIT! ASSHOLE! You can't trick me, get back here!" Suddenly, Ryan broke into a full-on sprint and ran off into the distance of route 204, closely followed by his pursuer.

Everybody else who was there simply stood and watched where they had just been, completely dumbfounded. The partner of the man, wearing a matching outfit, muttered to himself a bit. "Mm...that tall guy was really familiar aswell.."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" David interrupted, snapping the man out of his thoughts.

"Ah, nothing...just thinking aloud..you're going down now!" The two combatants raised their pokeballs, but before they could throw them, they were interrupted again, this time by Rowan. "Wait!" They stopped half-way, almost toppling from being so off-balance, and gave annoyed expressions. "Sigh, what NOW?"

"Who are you guys? Just wondering. First you want my research papers, and then you threaten to steal my son's and his friend's pokemon, and-"

"He's not my fr-"

"AND THEN there's your appearance...you look like clones."

"Ah, of course, we didn't introduce ourselves. Well wonder no more, for we are Team Galactic!"

David sniggered. _If Ryan was here, he'd say that that was the gayest name he'd ever heard. _Suddenly he became slightly agitated. _And then he'd say that it was perfect for me...that annoying moron. _"I've never heard of a Team Galactic." He began interrogating. "Are you guys some kind of professional battle league tag-team?"

The astronaut laughed. "Ha, that's hilarious. Team Galactic isn't just us two. There are literally THOUSANDS of grunts just like me and him. We're an organisation dedicated to...well..I'm not really sure, but our leader is amazing!"

"Who actually IS your leader?"

"Pfft. As if I'd tell any little squirt. Let's do this uninterrupted, then!"

They did just that. I would like to say more, but the battle was so humiliating it wasn't even worth mentioning. There's only so much that a Zubat and a Wurmple can do. David and Senna grabbed their stuff again and left, after a few words with the professor. "Alright...we better hurry up and catch up with Ryan. He's so bad at training, he's probably gonna need our help, even if that grunt is just like his partner."

* * *

><p>It was a cold and breezy night with a purple sky. The usual for the valley. Large white structures surrounded a factory-type building, in which machines and computers were humming away, with intelligent-looking men wandering around, some with clipboards, going about important tasks such as inspecting and checking equipment. In one particular office, more decorated than the others, with hand-drawn pictures hanging upon the walls and flowers flowing with the breeze by the windowsill, a scientist was sitting at his desk, reading sheet after sheet of information, every so often taking a sip of his coffee. He was distracted from his calculations by two small, gentle hands tugging on his lab coat. He smiled and looked at the owner of the hands – his 5 year old daughter. She had drawn him another picture with crayons.<p>

Taking the picture and placing in somewhere on his desk he picked up the girl and put her on his lap. He had a drowsy yet warm look to his face, and his eyes were full of honest kindness. "Megan...it's late...waaaaaay past your bed time...go find mummy downstairs and go home with her. She'll tuck you in nice and warm..." He began to slowly close his eyes, falling asleep at the thought of his own bed, before spluttering and slightly waking himself up. He took a huge gulp of coffee, before putting his daughter down.

"But daaaaaddy! I'm-" She was interrupted by her own yawn. "-not...tired..."

"Right. And I'm Arceus. Come on, i'll take you downstairs." The man picked her back up again and began to walk out of his office, going through the wide hallways to the entrance. All of a sudden though, loud banging and shouting rattled throughout the building. Voices which he did not recognise hollered "Everybody get down now! Stay where you are!" whilst the screams of his own colleagues were warnings that, for the most part, would be in vain. He looked over the banister of the staircase and almost froze on the spot. Being a quick thinker however, he quickly sidled back along to the wall, pressing himself up against it, and burying his child's face into his chest. Even though she had fallen asleep relatively quick, the violence from below had already woke her. "Daddy...?" she murmured, her voice muffled. "What's going on?"

"Guh...go back to sleep, sweetie." Her father began sweating profusely, fearing for his friends and family nearby, and most importantly, his own flesh and blood whom he was cradling in his arms unselfconsciously. "A-actually, Megan, you know that secret entrance of yours? Why don't you hurry along through that."

"But I'm tired, you take me there..."

"I can't, because if they see me, they'll see you, and they'll uhh...umm..they'll...you'll lose the game, and that wouldn't be very good, now would it? So hurry along now!"

The girl remained stubborn. "Noooo..I don't wanna go there on my oowwwnn!" She pouted, almost having a tantrum.

"Megan...go there..right..NOW." He repeated, quietly yet aggressively.

Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes. "But it's really dark over there...I want mommy!"

"MEGAN! For Christ's sake, just go!" With reluctance, she bit her lip and ran off to the door which only she, her mother and her father knew about. The man was initially relieved, but then froze on the spot. Footsteps. They were getting louder. He saw the shadow on the wall getting smaller as one of the intruders slowly climbed. At this rate, his daughter would be caught. He began to panic, moreso than he had ever done in his entire life. He was usually deemed as a cool, level-headed man, but now he didn't know what to do. The figure was getting closer, and the girl was still oblivious. It was after a couple more seconds which, from his perspective, lasted half a minute each, that he made a decision. Swallowing the lump in his throat he stood up and sharply punched the wall. He looked down towards the floor, sweat dripping down his nose and cheeks and then onto the tiles he was staring at. Then he struck the wall again. And again. And again...until his hand was drenched in the blood of his spite. The distraction worked, and the criminal changed it's path, going towards him instead. Even after he had been spotted, he continued to thrash at the wall, despite the other man who had heard him shouting at him to get up, who then proceeded to kick at his head...and the scientist still refused to look away from the floor.

All he could do now was hope that his daughter would make it back to Floaroma town safely, running through the night - traumatised by horrors which one her age could not comprehend. Could not bare. They would ruin her innocence. Destroy her from the inside. And the Lord knew:

Change her life for the unforeseen better.

* * *

><p>David and Senna stood rather baffled at the scene in front of them. A scruffily-dressed layabout slouched on a tree stump, half-eaten apple in hand, munching on it with the other hand on his knee, and an unconscious, badly bruised member of a criminal organisation laying on the floor opposite him, face-down on the floor with his head in a bush. Suddenly, the grunt's pockets began rustling and contorting, before Gastly flew out with a Pokétch in his mouth, which he dropped into his trainer's hand. "Ooh, wow. Hell yeah! Nice find, Gas."<p>

David pointed at the body. "...did you...beat this man up?"

"Wth? Nth mnthm, I wusthd my woeemonth."

"Speak with your mouth empty, damnit."

Ryan swallowed. "I used my Pokemon, man."

"Yeah right! It's the guy who's busted up, not his pokemon! You're a maniac!"

"Excuse me! I am NOT a maniac...I'm a lunatic, you twat."

"Same thing, now try to explain to me how a ball of gas with barely any physical presence could wound a grown man until he passes out?"

"...he's a pretty tough pokemon. Aren't ya, Gas?"

The ghost nodded, grinning like a hyena. David clinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Right...so...why do you randomly have an apple? It doesn't have wheat in it."

Ryan looked up confused. "..what the hell are you talking about?" He asked, rather quickly and high-pitched.

"...y'know, cereal. Wheat."

Ryan's eyes became extremely large as they widened. "Holy shit. THAT'S what they're made out of?"

"...what the hell did you think they were made from?"

"Weetos are a type of meat, aren't they?"

"...you're a fucking idiot. Pardon my language, but it needed the emphasise there."

"Well you're a weirdo."

"YOU'RE THE WEIRD ONE HERE, WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?"

Ryan and Senna burst into laughter, and the typical nonsense that normally happens between the two lads began yet again.

* * *

><p>The group ended up in front of what looked to be a small mountain or a cavern, contrasting very much so from the grass which it started immediately after. Ryan and David stood in front of it, looking up at it, passive looks to their faces.<p>

"Deja vu."

"Mmm."

Regardless of their ridiculous attempts at humorous narrative monologue, they continued onwards into the cavern, which, from a sign post, was called "Ravaged Path."

"It's not very Ravaged, is it?"

"Shut up, Ryan." David bluntly stated.

"Only making conversation, don't get butthurt you queer. See what I did there? Butthurt? Queer?"

"Yes, it's hilarious, now where are we going...ah, up here." They walked up the direction pointed out, but came to a halt.

Senna suddenly spoke out, "Ah, there's boulders in the way..." Prompting David to turn around with an annoyed expression. "Well observed, moron."

The other two stared at him for a few seconds before his face became slightly softer. "Oh! Oooohhhh...yeah...you're not Ryan. Hahaha!" He let out a short chuckle and shook his head, before proceeding to send out his Elekid. The girl looked at the boy she had been accused of looking like, and said boy shrugged his shoulders. They then turned their attention back to the Elekid.

"Alright, Elekid – smash these boulders up!"

"Why are you shouting?" Ryan muttered.

"Because I feel like it." David swiftly replied.

"Dude, I know you're trying to brag about your lame pokemon, but I assure you that any pokemon can-"

"I DON'T CARE? OKAY?"

"...clearly..."

The Elekid then continued to hack away at the pile of rocks in silent company for the next minute or so. Senna awkwardly shuffled her feet and looked around, holding her Swinub in her arms, whilst David folded his arms and tapped his feet impatiently and Ryan stood there slouched with his hands in his pockets, staring at nothing in particular with a permanent frown.

"...faggot..." the latter uttered under his breath.

The "faggot" was about to retort, until his Elekid let out a short victory cry and turned around to face them. "Oh, good job, return."

"Y'know you don't have to say 'return', that's just cheesy. The balls work without you saying 'go' or 'return'."

They continued on their way towards the light, which led towards the upper area of Route 204. The first thing they noticed was the beautiful aroma. Everywhere looked perfect; the trees and grass were just right, and there were gardens of flowers here and there planted around, causing them to become remotely interested and look around for a bit. However, it was becoming evening and the sky was darkening, so they decided to quickly get a move on instead of staring in awe.

Most of the wild pokemon there were what they mostly had seen around Sinnoh already, the generic Starlies and Bidoofs, except there were a few more grass and bug types mixed in now. Once again, they took turns battling the trainers they passed by, although Senna decided she wasn't ready for battles, and let her two partners fight them all. Until a certain young man came across them, that is, looking as if he had just come from the direction of their destination, Floaroma town. He stopped in front of the group of teenagers and stood there with his legs slightly apart and a worried frown on his face. He looked to be about 13 or 14.

Ryan spoke first. "Hey kid, come on, hurry up, whaddaya want? If you don't move, we'll move you."

David chimed in. "Yes, as rude as he may sound, we want to get a room before it's too late, so please make it quick."

The boy gulped. "I-I...uh...I want...battle me!"

Ryan whispered to David. "What, is he foreign or something?"

"I have no idea..." he looked back at the boy. "You want to battle yourself?"

"No, I mean, I want to battle you guys! Please!" The boy blurted out, his face looking increasingly frightened over nothing. The other two originally responded by sniggering, but then burst out into full-on laughter, clutching their stomachs and slapping their knees.

"Hahahahaha! Pfft, oh God Richie, get a load of this kid! He means serious business, man!"

David put one arm around Ryan's shoulder, wiping a tear from his own eyes. "Hahaha, I know, right? Be careful, this is a life or death situation!"

"He and his pidgey have gone from hell and back, and now they're here take their revenge! Hahaha!" They then bro-fisted each other and continued to joke at the boy's expense. Senna didn't even question why they were suddenly such good friends, but whatever.

After a while, they eventually calmed down stood there looking at the source of their amusement, folding their arms with smug smirks. Ryan lightly hit David on the shoulder a few times to get his attention. "Ey, 'ey...watch this...Hey there flower boy, I'm afraid you can't battle us."

"Huh?" His previous face of anger from being made fun of turned back to the scared look he approached them with. "W-why not?"

"We're pros, you see. We can't afford to waste our time with small fry like you." The other "pro" started laughing again. "Oh my God stop it...hehehe!"

The girl sweatdropped. "You guys are being a little cocky..." she thought aloud. Suddenly, an idea came to Ryan. "Oh! That's it!" He started. "You need some training. This lad can be your first battle."

"Oh, I...I can't, I'd still probably lose to him, me and Swinub haven't got that much experience..."

"Oh come ooooooooon!

She thought about it for a second. "O-okay, I guess it should be alright."

Immediately, the strange boy ran a few meters away, and then threw his pokeball. Out came a Staravia, and it flew in a small circle, before flapping it's wings and settling onto the ground. David looked rather impressed. "Oh, not so bad. Yeah, sorry Senna, you've lost this one already."

"What?" She managed to squeak out, the panic beginning to spread across her face.

"Don't worry!" Ryan called from the fair distance he and David were standing at. "Just relax, this guy sucks aswell!"

"B-but...I..."

"Staravia, Ariel ace!" Her hesitation was cut short by the boy's Staravia, who slashed at her Swinub at an incredible speed.

The girl's panic grew and grew, as she saw he pokemon get injured. The two guys however, noted how remarkably well it took the hit. "I...don't know any of his moves..."

Ryan shouted more advice at her. "Try powder snow, ice moves are good against pussy-ass birds!"

David muttered to him. "You know, if you didn't sound like such a moron, you'd be a genius."

"Uh-um...okay, Swinub, use powder snow!"

The small, snouted creature froze the soft ground around it, and then shot it all at the Staravia as a chilling mix of snow and ice. The bird, obviously inexperienced despite it's age, did not attempt to dodge it and hid it's upper body in it's wings as a defence, but it was in vain. It became weighed down slightly and almost fell to the ground, visibly shaken up. Senna gradually smiled at her pokemon, relieved that she actually might have a chance. "Staravia, get up!" Shouted the boy. "Come on buddy, we can do this! Use Wing attack on it quickly!" But the damage to it's pace had already been done, giving his opponent a short but longer time to react. As said opponent saw the staravia closing in, her battle instincts finally kicked in. "Sw-swinub! Def...defend! Use a defensive mo-"

"Defence curl." David interrupted.

"Yeah, defense curl!" she stammered, to which her pokemon responded by curling up in a tight ball, partially covering himself in thick snow which he had made earlier. It turned out to be surprisingly effective, until Ryan and David yet again observed how abnormally well it went. Having such strong defense wasn't heard of in such a young pokemon, leading them to a single conclusion.

"This pokemon is intelligent." The lighter-haired teen began in his explanation. "It naturally focuses it's mind to use endure, a move that temporarily over-clocks the power that is held back by the brain's restraints, allowing it to stay conscious and active for a little while longer. It's common among rarer small pokemon, for example cubchoo. But like I said, it'll only work for a little while..." He then cupped around his mouth and raised his voice to reach their team-mate. "Senna, you've got to end this soon, go for it!"

Ryan looked at the object David was holding in his hands, and commented on it. "Is that...an encyclopedia?"

He quickly moved it behind his back. "What? No! Shut up..."

"Okay then...Swinub, one last powder snow, put everything into it!" Swinub carried out Senna's order like a pro, getting a perfect counter-attack on the bird as it retreated backwards. Just like that, the battle was over.

She let out a short and cheerful giggle, and went to pick up her pokemon, who was completely fatigued from exhaustion, and returned him to his pokeball. David smiled and applauded her a bit before walking over to her. Ryan was the only one in the group who didn't seem to be too excited, and casually turned his head to the right, spitting out some excess residue before following suite by strolling over to everyone else. "Maaan, that battle was shit. It lasted like, what, two fuckin' seconds? Although when Swinub was like, completely unharmed, that was pretty boss."

The smaller teen in the group responded, "What do you expect, they're both noobs. Like you."

"Whatever."

The stranger looked down towards the ground and seemingly became frustrated with himself. "...So...that was your first battle?"

"...Oh, um...yeah..."

"Wow...I'm useless that this..."

"Y-you're not useless, I almost, I mean, I almost...I almost lost! You were pretty good..."

"Tch. Whatever stop patronising me!" And with that, the boy ran off, back towards Floaroma town, which was still a quite a bit of a walk away.

"...strange child..." Thought David aloud. "Ah well. We wasted too much time, we won't be able to get a room, so now we'll have to set up camp again like we did when we were going to Oreburgh that time." He shivered. "Damn, it gets cold at night. Let's get a fire going quickly."

* * *

><p>In the films, hideouts are sometimes abandoned warehouses, or secret underground forts...well, that's actually very accurate. It was a cold, damp, dimly-lit room full of cobwebs and scattered papers. The most peculiar thing however was the fact that there was a red-cushioned and polished throne with skulls on either side and at the top, in the center at the end of the room. The obscure piece of furniture looked out of place yet perfect at the same time. It was occupied by an aged man, probably in his prime at about fifty, give or take five years. He was only balding slightly at his crown, at any rate, even if the hair was grey. In addition to this, he had a very thin beard going across the entire span of his chin and both cheeks, one that looked like it was kept short, but only half-heartidly shaved every so often with little effort, aswell as a black eye-patch over his left eye. The man sat with a bored expression, cheek leaning into his fist like some sort of mastermind. His arms and torso were actually well built. Not quite ripped, but he had gone through some difficult manual labour.<p>

The same two black clad men, one with an unnerving smile and one who looked like a veteran, stood opposite him, holding the briefcase which they had previously acquired alongside a member of the thought-to-be-long-abolished organisation Team Rocket, who went by the alias "Johnny."

"Kekeke. Here ya go." The cruel-hearted one opened the case in front of the man on the throne who appeared to have much importance, revealing the contents, which he then studied and scanned with his eyes, before nodding. "Mm. That should definitely be enough by now. What is this now...the ninth? Tenth?" His voice was deep and coarse, almost saddening, yet he spoke with a profound gravity.

The other older man who was partnered with the youngest one there answered without moving a muscle that wasn't involved in the speaking process, hands behind his back. "Yes, the Tenth. You were right there."

The boss continued speaking slowly. "Excellent. Have Team Galactic already infiltrated the windworks?"

"Yes sir."

"Beautiful. Get everyone down their immediately, and contact the ones who are...already there. I'm sure the atmosphere for them is unbearably palpable."

The younger man's grin grew even wider as his eyes lit up in a grim fashion. "Oh hell yes, sir...kekekeke!"

* * *

><p>Along the outskirts of Floaroma, a couple of tents were pitched, and a small camp fire hurled fire into the night sky, dancing as it met the stars. The stars themselves were a gorgeous sight, twinkling brighter than usual, yet unfortunately the moon was nowhere to be seen. It would have possibly been a perfect view, if not for the dusk clouds shrouding the moonlight like a blanket. David was fast asleep, head resting on a pillow which was leaned up against a rock. One would question why he goes through the burden of carrying a large rucksack with tents in it when they don't even use them, but he would probably reply by using his family name as a tool which justifies every last action that goes by questioned.<p>

Senna and Ryan were still awake, but completely silent. They both sat down almost identically, one leg crossed with the other upright to that they could lean one of their arms on it. Sat at the other side of the fire, the girl shifted her weight nervously. She slowly turned her head to the left to get a glance in at Ryan, who, to her relief, had apparently not even acknowledged that she was still awake. She noticed how he had the same look on his face, as he gazed up at the stars. Not THE same look, but one of his many faces which he repeatedly used throughout the course of the day. He never frowned too much nor smiled too much, but right now he had his casual smirk, his tired, lazy-looking green eyes full of warmth, almost as if they were showing compassion at the stars, giving them a shoulder to cry on.

Yet, in all of his different expressions, including his smiles, his frowns, his yawns, his laughs...his eyes looked somewhat like that warmth...but miserable at the same time. Was it sadness? She pondered it for a few seconds. Nay, it was something else. It was anger. This boy...or rather, this young man, was an entity not like anything else in the visible universe. He was as unique as one could get. It was unknown to even himself what he was thinking himself. One minute he was content and peaceful, and the next he was full of rage. But he didn't show it. Not at all. He just kept the same different faces, and most of the time they didn't even correspond to the correct feeling.

Drill sergeants attempt for many years to create a soldier completely void of fragility. But it is near impossible, for someone who can remain absolutely unperturbed by the joy and the madness they encounter is someone who understands the boundaries and similarities between man and pure existence, forming congruence between the two. Only when one has gone insane yet kept their mind can they reach the stairway to heaven.

_Wait, why am I thinking about this? _She thought, before she noticed that Ryan had been staring at her for a short while now, as if awaiting her to utter the first words. She flushed an incredibly deep shade of crimson, before sharply jerking her head away to look at the ground in front of her. "Ah! I-I-I'm...sorry..." she mumbled her apology. Ryan chuckled slightly, and Senna ripped a few blades of grass out of the ground, playing with them nervously.

"You looked like you were having fun, exploring my amazingly chiseled face." His smirk became a cocky grin.

"E-exploring? N-no, I was just, I mean...I'm, I'm sorry..."

The boy let out a hearty laugh, shortly quieting it down after he remembered that David was still sleeping. "Wow, you're kind of easy to take the piss out of, ha."

She remained the same colour in her cheeks, as a awkward (at least for her) silence grew, before she eventually thought of something to say. "Thank you for helping me back there...in the battle."

His expression changed to a curious look. "Huh? That was nothing, take no notice."

"No really, you're actually a really helpful person, I bet you have a lot of friends..."

"Heh. Me, friends? Nah, girl. I'm a loser."

The girl instantly piped up, leaning closer to him. "But what about your achievements in Kanto? You're not a loser!"

"Kanto eh. I can't even legally battle in that region anymore."

"Why not?"

Ryan turned away, and looked back at the stars again. They stayed in silence again for the second or so time, the same mild tension as before. This lasted for a few minutes. He licked his own lips and bit them gently, which went unnoticed by Senna, before looking at her again.

"...have you ever seen the bones of a pokemon?"

"Well yeah, in museums."

"Ah, of course. Let me rephrase that: Have you ever seen bones of an alive pokemon sticking out of it's body in the midst of a battle-torn pit of death whilst it's piercing screams of terror echo throughout the entire building, with the blood of it's ripped flesh spurting onto your body, and all you can do is stand there grinning sadistically, laughing hysterically like an animal and you don't even know why, because you're disgusted by the scene in front of you and you just want to throw up, but you just...can't...help it, and so you begin laughing even more from nervousness, you're breaking down inside and there's nothing you can do, because in some dark, putrid orophis of your mind, you're enjoying it, but you're not even conscious of it, and the entire scene becomes something out of some twisted, sick, psychopathic horror film." He clenched his fist while he harshly spat the last few words. Angst now filled the area. He looked at the awkward girl who was now looking even more uncomfortable, as if she felt guilty that she had trespassed in some way. "Sorry about that, I'm a weirdo, I know."

She shook her head. "No, it's alright, I'm sorry too...but also grateful."

"Why's that?"

"This is the first actual, informal chat I've had with someone in ages...the last time I talked for so long was my job interview at the pokemart." She smiled in a coy manner.

Ryan looked back towards the stars, and yet another silence followed, except this time, they barely just enjoyed it.

"...hm. I haven't jacked off in like, forever, man."

* * *

><p><strong>Ayayay, not only was it horrendously long, but the darker themes I promised may have come in to play there. Well, actually, it's just my bullshit attempts at being serious, but hey, I bet it fucking worked. Have a lovely shitting day, I hope you win some money today. Or tonight. Whenever you're reading this, you prick. I'm not fucking Jesus...COS HE CHEATED ON MEE!1 OH FUCK YES, I GAVE THE SENTENCE A WHOLE NEW MEANING.<strong>


	6. There are no Bystanders

**Hey there. No more bullshit, I'm not gonna take months to update.**

**...if that sounds like a stupid attempt at sounding like an anime protagonist with newly-found resolve, then it's because I'm listening to empowering badass music. Leave me alone. This chapter may have technical faults like spelling, punctuation, grammar and all that because it's late and I can't be arsed to sieve through it all right now. Feel free to do my job for me and point it out. Also, did you know that exactly a week from now, this fic'll be a year old? Yeah, that kind of...highlights...my laziness...hm. **

**Anyways:**

**Enjoy.**

There are no Bystanders.

The morning light - one's immortal enemy. It awakens us from true happiness; the bliss of being completely at peace, a thousand worlds away from whatever harsh reality we have to eventually face in the morrow. Indeed, the sunlight dislikes us. However, it is also our saviour at times, allowing us to escape from horrific nightmares, that are often worse than reality. For that reason, the sun is a generator - just another object in our lives that you would only notice once it goes away. On this one particular morning, Ryan was neither angry or forgiving of the sun. As it cast it's light upon the tip of his nose, he remained awake yet completely unperturbed. This was the case every other morning aswell, since he hit a certain age. For him, life itself was a generator.

Although, it could be said that he was, at the very bottom of his heart, restless. This day could not have come sooner for him, and he cracked open a smile, staring at the yellowy sky with eyes looking more relaxed than they had ever been. The boy had slept for a mere seven hours last night, rather than falling asleep at 10pm and somehow waking up in the afternoon, and for once he actually didn't mind. It was a great feeling, the cold and crisp yet delightfully warm early morning air, accompanied by the ambience of quite possibly the most gentle audible wind in existence. It was perhaps the closest thing one could get to orgasmic without feeling sexual pleasure. Why was all of this so? He had something to look forward to; a rare occurrence in his meager, bleak life.

Ryan rose up into a seating position and rubbed his legs up and down, repeatedly brushing over his knees. His body stretched in various ways and he yawned, most likely due to his recent anomalous sleep schedule. He breathed in and out heavily a couple times, creating just a slight cloud of condensation. He turned to his right, observing one of his first human friends, David. It may seem quite sad saying that at his age, but the lord knows how anti-social he is. After observing the other boy, he turned back and looked straight ahead, opening his smile and chuckling silently, before once again looking at the back of his head. "I'll never wake up before you, will I?" He jokingly asked with the same open-mouthed smile, teeth showing slightly.

Taking a drag of what appeared to be a cigarette, David remained in his cross-legged position, left hand leaning on his left knee, sitting facing the sunrise. After a slight pause, he exhaled the smoke and finally answered. "Nope."

After another short pause, Ryan stuck his hand out (even though the other person couldn't see it) and spoke. "Pass us one, man."

"You're underage."

Ryan bit his lip to suppress his quiet laughter and spoke again. "You tryina be funny, eh?"

"I'm 18 officer, I swear."

"Fuck ooooff, son, jus pass us one."

David lightly threw the one he was currently using over his shoulder, which the lad caught and placed in his mouth, twiddling it up and down with his teeth, taking it out every now and again to breathe out. "Your dad wun' like yer if he knew what a little rrrebel you were," he said in an almost lecturing but nonchalant way, rolling his tongue on the "r" of rebel.

"Fuck 'im."

"Hehehe."

"You've been smiling all this time, what's up? Someone die?"

He looked away and took another drag, now grinning. "I'm in a good mood, in't I?"

David turned around, smiling in a similar way to Ryan, just looking at him for a bit. "...I think we're really similar, y'know."

The latter laughed, his grin growing even wider. "Give over, mate."

The dirty blonde smirked, but his attention was brought to the petite frame of a girl who was curled up in a fetal sleeping position, now coughing. He then turned back to Ryan. "Best put that out, incase she's asthmatic." Ryan stubbed it with his bare hands, apparently used to burns, and flicked it into the tall grass. "That's bad for the environment, you idiot."

"I'll be dead before I'm 20, it's alright."

Senna slowly got up into a sitting position, and brought her hand to her mouth as she yawned, letting out a short high pitched noise in the middle of it, causing her to become slightly embarrassed. Nevertheless, she carried on as normal. "Good morning, guys..."

David repeated the greeting to her, and Ryan grunted. "Sleep well?" Asked the former. "What, with it being your first night 'under the stars' and whatnot."

"Mhm, it was alright..." She turned to the other boy. "I'm surprised you're up this early, Ryan." She wore a shy grin.

"Aye." He put his hands behind him with both thumbs on their respective hips, whilst leaning backwards to stretch. "I have no idea why, but I feel really good. As Richie might say, I feel absolutely fabulous!"

"Shut it, you." David started, as he began picking a few of his things back up. "We've got plenty of time, but the city of the second gym is still a while away, so I want to make more progress than just Floaroma".

The three got their shit together, and continued onward to their next destination, which was very close by.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The night before...<strong>_

A relatively large, sassy-looking woman of ebony complexion sat at a wooden counter, on a wooden stool with a cushion, wearing a long red dress and a fair amount of jewellery, including large ear-rings and made-up nails, right hand gripping the cash register possessively, left hand holding a book, with her elbow supporting it by leaning on the counter. She was reading it with mild interest, ready to lock up her berry and flower shop, which was relatively successful despite the small population, as it was late into the night. Although the artificial light was quite bright, she knew how much the darkness outside would contrast, and her eyes were beginning to show signs of tiredness. She gently closed the book she was reading and rubbed her eyes, preparing to get off the seat when suddenly the jingle of the bells above the door rang. She never really needed to use the classic "Sorry, we're closing now" line, and that would remain the same as straight away she observed that this wasn't a customer.

It was a little girl, extremely young, wearing a small buttoned orange dress with a white flowery collar, her hair being a light brown with two very short pigtails. The important part was that she was crying. The women abruptly stood up from the stool and walked over to the girl at a fast pace and bent down to her level, comforting her. "Aunt Cassie..." The girl snivelled, burying her head in the woman's notably large chest. "Awww...there there, dear...you tell your dear old Aunt Cassie what the problem is?"

"Th-there's some bad men in the big house where daddy works, and he told me to come back here to find mommy but she's not here 'cos she's there aswell, so I ran back but the mean space man in front of the door won't let me see them!"

Cassie embraced the girl and cradled her slightly, hushing her. "There there...wait, space man? Bad people?" She pulled back out of the hug and looked at her seriously, going wide-eyed. "You need to tell your Auntie exactly what happened, all the little bits," she continued slowly, making sure the girl understood.

* * *

><p>It was beautiful weather when they reached Floaroma Town, as expected from the gloriously fine morning earlier. The strong scent of pollen became even more potent as they got closer, almost leading them in the right direction without the need for a map. They knew they were there when they ended up in front of a rural yet lively settlement with a large arch-shaped signpost in front.<p>

"**Welcome to the Town of Floaroma"**

Underneath and to the right of which was a another, smaller square-shaped sign:

"**Please do not spoil the gardens, and feel free to pick any flowers in the fields. Anti-littering is strongly enforced."**

David raised his eyebrows slightly. "Is it me, or is that kind of threatening?"

Ryan smacked his arm with the back of his hand and sniggered. "Hey...hey...wanna go trash some posh fuck's lawn for a laugh?"

"And you wonder why everybody hates you."

They walked through the archway and soon began deeply breathing in the intense aroma that surrounded them. All they could see along the horizon was row after row of flowers, it was actually quite breathtaking. Senna looked around in awe. "Wow, no wonder people come to live all the way out here!"

"Aye." Ryan chimed in with agreement. "This place could cure a dead person."

"Charming analogy as always, I see." Muttered David in response.

"That wasn't an analogy, you twat. It was a figure of speech."

"Uh, no, it was definitely an analogy. You used the phrase to explain how powerful the smell is."

"What? Are you feckin' stupid, mate? Even _I _know that isn't how analogies work!"

"You're not even educated, you big bastard!"

"Mate, I was richer than you before I left home...and I left home at a young age, so I'm badass."

"Wow, you have no idea how much of a prick that makes you sound. Seriously, what are you even talking about?"

"Your mother, asshole."

"Oh, you like dropping the A-bomb, don't you?"

"...that's...you can't just...change a uh, a...what is it? A slang word? Yeah, you can't just change a slang thing like F-Bomb into A-Bomb like that."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Since when did informal chat have rules? And in fact, why are you being so picky? Finicky bastard."

"Oh, really?" He grabbed David by the collar, which caused the other to do the same.

"Yeah, rea-"

"GUYS!" Snapped the short girl behind them, to the surprise of the other two. "You two keep on arguing whenever someone's in a good mood, it's so annoying! Just grow up already!"

The duo looked at the girl with shocked expressions, still holding each other by the collar. After a few seconds, they looked back at each other, paused, and burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! WOW, what's gotten into this chick, eh?" Ryan near enough shouted to the person a couple inches in front of him, thumb pointing to Senna at the side. "Hahahaha, I know, right? Got up in the wrong side of bed or what? Pffft! Come on, let's go find a bar or something!" And with that, they walked off, both with an arm over the other's shoulder, loudly jesting about nothing in particular.

Senna stood at the same spot, mouth gaping open, ready to pout in a frustrated way any second now. Initially, she regretted saying something so out-of-character simply because it was just that – out of character, and she could feel herself at the time going red in the cheeks. But now she regretted it because the two guys she was travelling with found it way too easy to mock her. Although, she was proud of herself for not being extremely quiet for once. No doubt her sudden spark in personality wouldn't last that long.

* * *

><p>A slightly overweight man in a casual white business shirt sad on a bench in the fields of Floaroma next to a dirt path, under the shade of a tree, drinking coffee from a plastic cup despite how high the temperature was. A group of kids accidentally kicked a football over to him, and he threw it back, smiling to them as they thanked him. He appeared to be carefree, and was enjoying sitting there in the warm breeze, doing nothing. He lazily put one arm behind the bench and slouched slightly, but brought it back around to answer search around for his phone. It started ringing, and he tutted and sighed in annoyance before pressing the button and putting it to his ear. "Hey there, how ya doin'?...what's wrong with small talk?...oh, fine." The man sighed. "...yeah...it's alright, I got a close eye fixed on this whole charade. Yeah. Yeah...no. Nah, go away man, I'm trying to relax here. What? A man has to relax every now and again!...make another wise crack about my girth and I'll-...hello?" He brought the phone away from his ear and in front of his face. He stared at it as the long beeping sound which indicated that the call was no longer there hummed away. "Son of a shit!" He announced rather angrily to himself, causing a couple people walking nearby to look over for a brief moment.<p>

* * *

><p>Eventually, Senna found the two boys...arguing as usual. Even though they were acting like best friends a minute ago. Seeing no reason to hang around Floaroma any longer after they saw pretty much all there was to the see, they decided to press on towards Eterna City, which was, as David mentioned the night before, a long ways away still. A couple days minimum. Thus, they carried on along Route 205, one of the longest routes in the region, starting before Eterna Forest and then carrying on after it. There weren't really many trainers around the first area, just locals tending to their abnormally large berry plants, which, according to biology taught in schools, completely wilt and die when picked. However, this is compensated for the fact that they grow at an alarming rate.<p>

Having being bored to death by a couple of sentences about fan-made lore regarding berries, they picked up the pace just a little, before coming to a stop. In front of them stood the little girl wearing an orange dress.

"Don't tell me..." started Ryan. "She desperately wants to battle us?"

"She better not, or I'll have to sort her out." David stated, matter-o-factly.

"Don't worry, I'll get rid of her. Gastly, scare her off."

The ghost pokemon started flying forwards preparing it's grisliest face, until Senna stopped him and gave the two boys a pleading look. "Come on, you're gonna frighten her, she's just a little girl..." She then proceeded to crouch down next to her, (at this level, the little girl was slightly taller than her) and smiled warmly. She actually looked like she had been crying, with red and sore-looking eyes, presumably from being rubbed incessantly. Despite how bad the purple-haired teen was at communicating with youths her age and adults, aswell as pokemon, she had a fondness of children. "Hey, what's wrong? Uhm...oh, I know – you can call me Senna onee-san! You know, like big sister?"

Ryan folded his arms. "Jesus Fucking Christ love, she's not a weeaboo."

David hit him, warning him not to use that kind of language around kids.

Senna blushed slightly, and tried again with the girl. "W-what's your name?"

"Megan." The child mumbled, looking at her small black shoes.

"That's a pretty name!" The older one beamed, smiling even more now, in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Please, misters and big sis Senna, they won't let me see my papa!"

"Who won't let you see your papa?"

"The space man!"

Senna's smile disappeared and she turned around to her partners, who all looked at each other in a grim way, knowingly. She swallowed before attempting to comfort the girl yet again. "Don't worry, we'll get your daddy for you. Just stay here, or...actually, that might be a little dangerous, do you want one of us to take you back to town? Like to one of your neighbours, or-"

"No, i'm ok, I'll wait here."

"Just leave her 'ere, she'll be alright." Ryan reassured.

"Well, if you're sure..." muttered the older girl, now standing up.

"Let's just go kick these dickhead's arses and be done with it."

David punched his arm, warning him for the second time. "Language, you idiot. She's five or six or something."

"Five or six what?"

"...nothing. Let's go."

* * *

><p>They learned from Megan that the place where her father was held captive was the Valley Windworks, a factory just a hundred meters or so away. It was surrounded by trees which were purposely planted in a perfect line as some sort of tall hedge, with a wall behind them for extra measure. They walked through into the...garden, without a problem. It was indeed rather strange to have a garden outside a factory, but then again, they were windworks, supposedly good for the environment. The entrance was notable straight away, despite it being a regular steel door that blended in with the white building. This was most likely due to the grunt standing outside, dressed in a silver suit with a cyan bowl-cut for hair. When the grunt saw the trio approaching in the distance, he gritted his teeth and instantly went for his pokeball. As they got closer, he called to them: "What the hell do you want?" The three of them carried on walking until they got close enough to be heard by talking. David scoffed at the man, and folded his arms. "Hmph. You're going to let us through there, whether you like it or not."<p>

"Don't play around, kid – you have no business here!"

The boy face-palmed in response, muttering to himself. "Oh for heaven's sake...you 'Team Galactic' are a complete joke. Who are you trying to intimidate?"

"Intimidate? HA! We have no need for such frivolous ideals!"

"That's great. So let us through now."

"You're WAY too cocky, you little shit. Tear 'em up, Glameow!" He threw his pokeball, and a glameow came out, hissing at them.

Ryan smacked his hands together. "Aw wow, was that a Bleach reference or what? 'cos that was pretty good!"

Being ignored by everyone, the battle continued. "I hate cats." David hissed back. He sent out his Elekid and it straight away went into a battle stance.

"Glameow, scratch that thing!"

"My pokemon isn't a thing...Elekid, block it and counter with a karate chop!" The glameow, being weak as expected, made virtually no damage whatsoever because of the block, allowing for the elekid to get an easy and powerful hit off to the side of the neck, which knocked out the cat in a single hit. Returning his pokemon, the grunt tutted. "Wow, that pokemon was weak. Us low ranks always get the shit ones..."

"What the hell did you just say?" Snarled David, viciously. Ryan grabbed both of his arms.

"Whoa there, mate. You're too easily offended, man. Cool that shit." He let go of his grip on him, and they all looked at the criminal expectantly. Said criminal sighed. "Fine, I'll let you pass..." He drifted off, while slowly walking to the side of the door. But as the teenagers began to move forward, he quickly darted back and opened the door, shouting "Psych!" before closing the door again and locking it tightly. David kicked at the door and then hammered on it with the side of his fist. "Open up, you imbecile! We had a deal!"

"Hahaha! What deal? I'm a member of Team Galactic! More fool you for trusting me! Oh, and by the way, the only other key is with my two cohorts in Floaroma! So up yours, kid! Hahahaha!"

"Tch." The boy spat at the door and hit it once more before walking off. "Come on guys, we're gonna go get the key from the rest of those bastards."

Ryan stood there for a moment, looking at the door, as the other two walked off. "You know what, guy? You're a twat. You know that?" His comment was met with muffled laughter from the other side. "You just wait, son. When I come back, I'm gonna beat the living fucking shit out of you. You won't be laughing then. Why? Not because of the pain, I assure you. It's just kinda hard to make a sound without a voice box, you little shit." A short silence followed, both staring at the door from their respective sides. The man's voice then came again. "...ha, who are you trying to scare, kid?" But this time, it was Ryan who was laughing. Albeit in a long and eerie way. "Hehehehe...I'm not even trying, sir. But hey, do you wanna know how I DO scare people?"

He leaned in, closer to the door, and hushed his voice into not quite a whisper, and spoke with a dark tone. "Well, sometimes I like to carve my name into their flesh with iron rod. You know, the rusty kind that can really cut into delicate things...oh sorry, that's when they've already died of fear. Before that, I enjoy brutally desecrating their privates with sharp objects. Maybe force them to eat their own remains, if I'm feeling generous. But I like my meals with a bit of dessert, so after that comes an absolutely _delightful _special treat...it involves a few broken bones, and knocking out every single one of your teeth, whilst I pump adrenaline into you to make sure you're awake to see the grand finale..."

A very long silence followed this time. An even bigger smile played on Ryan's lips. "...not! Haha, I was just kidding! How d'ya like my impression of a serial killer? Not bad, eh? Ah well, I'll see you later then. I'll be sure to uh...have fun, with you properly when I get back. You take care until then, okay darling? Aha!" He then jogged off and caught up with his two companions, who told him to hurry up.

Behind the door, the man was standing with his back to it, sweating profusely.

* * *

><p>When they arrived back at Floaroma town, the owner of the berry and flower shop was standing outside of her store, hands on her hips, staring at the group. They walked past, pretending not to notice, but to no avail. "Well excuuuse me, I did NOT realise I had my invisibility cloak on today!" The woman boomed, almost piercing their ears. The three teens cringed, before slowly turning to face her. "Y'all best not be disrespectin' 'ol Sassy Cassie now!"<p>

Ryan's face grew into one of utter confusion and distaste. "Sassy...Cassie? Are you serious?" He then began laughing uncontrollably, covering his face and putting his other hand in front of him to do an apologetic wave. Gastly joined in with his raspy chuckle. "Oh God, no..I...hahaha...I'm sorry...that's just...oh my God, hahaha!"

Cassie's face however, filled with rage. "OH HEEEEEELLLLL NO, YOU ARE **NOT **DISRESPECTIN' ME RIGHT NOW!"

David and Senna sweatdropped, and came between the two, trying to calm her down. "Please, Mrs. erm...Sassy Cassie," he started. "Ignore this idiot, he walked into a lampost as a child. Is there something you wanted to ask us?"

"Hmph. Yeah, I saw you with my niece, little Meg."

Ryan stifled more laughter whilst looking away into the distance. "I love how everyone around here has to use an adjective before everyone's name..."

"You best help her out, aight? Or I will kick yo ass all the way back to the city, boy! Fo' real, ima shove my foot so far up yo ass, the shoe shiner gon' have reach into yo goddamn throat. You feelin' me, boy?"

"Yeah, yeah...I feel you...don't worry about my friend here feeling you though, he doesn't like the pussy! Pahahaha!"

David turned to him and brought his fist up, before stopping and pinching his own nose in frustration. _Don't let him get to you...don't let him get to you...don't let him get to you..._

"Don't let him get to you." Sassy Cassie advised him, causing David to look up, wide-eyed.

"...don't do that."

"What?"

"N-nevermind...anyways, don't worry about your niece, we'll make sure she's reunited with her family."

* * *

><p>Back at the Valley Windworks, Team Galactic were already at work...which also included forcing the scientists who worked there to work extra hard, whilst giving them rather unhealthy doses of physical and verbal abuse. The head of operations was still in his large office like usual...except the work he was doing was not very usual. And there were a bunch of astronauts running organised crime. Most notably, a woman with a slightly different uniform than the females. She actually had a skirt attachment to her top (shaped like a flying saucer, probably on purpose to be fitting with the theme) with black tights underneath. Her hair wasn't the same as the others, either. Hers was quite a bright burgundy colour, and her hairstyle was some kind of half-mullet with three sharp-looking yet naturally curled points, one at the top of her head, and the other two either side of her cheeks. She looked tomboyish, and walked around with a demanding presence, making sure that everyone there knew she was in charge. Almost like a dominatrix. Her face was strict and cruel, but she wasn't actually even 20 yet.<p>

The chief scientist stopped typing for just a couple of seconds to wipe sweat away from his forehead, and then carried on working. The woman's frown deepened as her eyebrows furrowed, and she stood right behind him. "How long is this gonna take?" Her voice was huskier than the average female, but still attractive in a sense. In fact, regardless of the fact that she was feared among the grunts of Team Galactic, she was also the admiration of many of the men, and the role model of many of the women. The scientist gulped before answering her.

"I don't know, it could be a while from now. Why do you even need this information, anyway? What possible reason?"

The woman slammed her fist onto the desk, scattering stationary and papers, and knocking over his energy drink, which was his solution for not liking coffee much during the day. Also for the fact that it was incredibly hot this time of year. "Listen here, you little worm. There are a few rules which you're gonna follow if you want to live. First off: You do NOT question MY motives. Nor do you question anything what Team Galactic does. Got it? Don't you DARE ask me another fucking question," she spat, gritting her teeth, voice full of venom. The man moved his finger around his collar to get some air around his neck, nervous from the close proximity. "Second of all, don't you dare fucking look at me. I rarely even let my own men look at me unless they're directly addressing me, so don't you go getting any ideas, you creepy old fart."

There was a pause, and all that could be heard once again was endless typing and a few exchanges of information between grunts. "Do I make myself clear?" **(A/N: Fun fact, I originally typed "Do I make myself queer?" and then spent five minutes laughing) **Her voice was now calmer, yet it did not cease to be threatening. "...Yes ma'am." He answered, although her response was clouting him around the head and grabbing the back of his collar, lifting it up. "That's yes _miss_ to you, dickhead." She whispered into his ear, before sharply letting go off his collar, making it snap back down onto the back of his neck painfully. He let out a short cry of pain and made a seething sound, while rubbing where it had left a red mark on his skin. She slowly strutted closer to the wall, looking at one of his daughter's drawings hanging up. "Aww, isn't this cute. This is your daughter's, right?" She ripped it off the wall, and observed it in her hand.

"What's it to you?" The father became very defensive.

"Hmph." A smile played on the young woman's lips. "I'll let your rude and inappropriate tone go for now. After all, I'm going to have a lot of fun thinking of what'll happen to your precious daughter if you don't do as I say~"

"You keep her out of this, you...bitch..." He mumbled the last word.

Unlike her usual self, she pretended not to hear him say that final word. "Aww, is she really that important to you?" The red-head teased. "Then do as I say." Her voice lost the slight playfulness it had in the last couple of sentences. "Or you'll never see her again. Or your 'gorgeous' wife, for that matter."

* * *

><p>Floaroma Town has won the prize of most beautiful area in Sinnoh more times than any other place since the start of the award a few decades ago. However, most of the time, judges don't even bother checking it's hidden pride – Floaroma Meadow. Twice as amazing as the areas around town, and also the birthplace of purchasable honey. A honey which is sought after by many people, as not only does it taste delicious, but it can attract some incredibly rare pokemon. Hence, it of course would attract the attention of a certain criminal organisation, which was in turn the reason why the usual tourists weren't in the meadow; they had scared them away.<p>

Two members of Team Galactic stood side by side, looking down on a normal-looking man, who was balding. The normal looking man, despite feeling intimidated, kept his composure as he preferred to do things as peacefully as possible. "Please..." he began, with his soft yet deep voice. "There is no need to start conflict. If you would like some honey, I will happily provide you with it...but please, you must pay for it. Or else I cannot run the business and support my family."

The two grunts snickered at the man, raising their heads a little to look down on him more. "Heh. Did you hear that, Bill?"

"Sure did, Tom. Looks like this poor guy wants us to pay up."

"But he's so sweet looking...hehehehe...he should work as a volunteer for a charity."

"That's right, Tom. And you know what they do in charities?"

"Give stuff away to the needy for free."

"Correct once again. And right now, we're _very _needy..."

"Hehehe...Bill's right, sir...won't you spare just a little honey for us? Like, say, for example...every last drop you've got."

"Mhm, donate honey to help the poor, starving children of Team Galactic..."

"Nah, we don't hire kids. We're not THAT bad. Hehehe!"

"Heh."

The man's face remained unmoving as he brushed aside everything they had just said. "I will repeat myself again – pay fairly like everyone else, or you do not get any honey."

"We're not gonna take it by force, so just give it to us...or our pokemon will take it by force."

"Well well well." Came a young yet confident voice from a few yards behind them. They turned around to be greeted by the cocky grinning of David Rowan, who was standing in front of his two companions, arms folded and legs spread out slightly. "Look what the meowth dragged in."

Ryan's perfectly horizontal frown focused itself on the boy. "You sound like such a faggot right now."

"Shh...you're gonna ruin my style..."

"What the fuck..."

The grunt named Bill gave them a confused look, which then shaped into a half-amused half-annoyed expression. "Beat it kid, grown-ups are talking." His partner Tom then joined in. "Yeah, we were just having a nice, friendly, adult discussion with this gentleman here. Go away."

David did not budge. "You already know our answer to that. We're not leaving. Now give us the key to the windworks."

"Ah, so that's what you want. Whatsamatter kid, your parents in there or something? Don't worry, they're in good hands...well, actually, nah. Commander Mars is running this operation, if I were you, I'd be worried too. Yeesh." He shivered by simply remembering what the woman was like.

Ryan rubbed his forehead and sighed. "They name their generals after planets. It just gets fucking better."

"If you refuse to leave...looks like we'll have to force you kids to leave by other means!" Bill grabbed two pokeballs from his belt and held them in a position so that his arms were crossed, the balls both by the sides of his head, and Tom grabbed just a single ball. "Ha, since you battled our cohort down by the valley, it means your pokemon have been weakened, and we have the upper hand! Go, Wurmple and Silicoon!" He sent out both at once. The other grunt followed suite with a single zubat.

"Alright, finally, an actual challenge." David smirked. "Let's do this!"

"Don't wannaaaaa," came a groan from behind him. "Can't be aaaaaarrrsed."

"Shut up and do some work yourself."

"Fiiiiiine. Gastly, go fuck some shit up."

"Gas!" The pokemon cheerfully exclaimed as some type of salutation, before flying over to aid in the battle. The other lad sent out his elekid for the second time that day. "Alright Elekid, start this party off with a pacey thunderpunch! Use your quick attack to get over there and then pummel them!" He ordered, dramatically pointing at the enemy wurmple. Bill put all of his effort into pointing aswell, spinning around before directing an attack at the oncoming elekid. "Silicoon! harden and take the hit, and Wurmple use poison sting!"

Ryan, showcasing the same unique battling style he did in Oreburgh, stood a few meters away from the battlefield with Senna, and just casually called over to Gastly: "Yo bro, you know what to do, yeah? Cool. Do something creative though, like." The girl, standing to his right, clutching her Swinub the way one might hold a dog, turned and looked up at him. "Do people _have _to pose like that in a battle?"

He turned and looked at her. "No, it's just something what the camp types do. Some kind of war cry or something for homosexuals."

Senna let out a long "Ohh" as if she had just learned something new, her curious face now watching the fight again. "It's just that everyone I've seen so far has done it."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, they're just um...they're just pricks. You don't have to do it."

"Oh. I see...that's a relief."

"Mm."

David tutted at the actions of his opponents. _For a goon, this guy sure does have a strategy or two up his sleeve... _Luckily though, Gastly, being the team player he is, (or rather, just being a sneaky little bastard) cast a confuse ray on the wurmple, meaning that when Elekid smashed into Silicoon and got cut by it's spiked body, would not suffer increased injuries from poison, and could retreat before jumping back in for another attack.

What was not so lucky was that the two grunts seemed to have been together for quite some time, and were experienced with team play. As Elekid jumped back, Tom ordered his zubat to use supersonic waves to counter-act the wurmple's wacko senses, allowing it to snap out of confusion and get a clean shot with string-shot, trapping the Elekid in a sticky substance similar to the silk from a web. He then told Zubat to fly over to the long thread of the web and bite in to it, demonstrating his ability to leech life from anything connected to it. David began worrying. He looked over to Gastly who was busy licking the silicoon to death, clearly no help, and then back to Ryan and Senna, who were no longer even watching the battle but rather talking about a popular TV show, 'Search for the Red Gyarados.' _Hm...quite a good documentary that was...wait wait, this is no time to be thinking about that! Think, David think...you're a Rowan...you surely can't lose to these clowns...ah! That's it! _

It was then that David realised for the first time, despite his private education and the fact that he had owned an electric-type pokemon for years, that electricity can be conducted. "Elekid!" He almost screeched, "Zap the web!" Elekid stopped struggling and looked at him for a moment, before realising what his trainer was getting at, and then nodded confidently. He released a large shock of energy from the two amps which served as his ears and just blasted the area around him with volts, sending a current surging through the string and into the bodies of Zubat and Wurmple, frying them. **(Fuck science.) **On a side note, Gastly had taken out Silicoon. The battle had been won. The ghost pokemon flew back over to Ryan's shoulder (who still had not even noticed that the battle was over) and David smirked, praising his pokemon before returning it. The grunts did the same except without the praise.

"Tch...how the hell did this work out...lucky bastards...fine, we'll give you the key. C'mon Tom, we're outta here!" And so they dropped the key into David's hands scurried off.

The man looked both relieved and grateful. Ah...thank you all ever so much...here, have some honey on the house. My reward for you."

"Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure. I'm sure that's the last you'll see of those strange folk around here."

"I certainly hope so...it was just honey they were after. All this for such a low-priced thing. I guess they wanted a lot of it to cartel rare pokemon...it is saddening that people would want to do such things. I am sure they will reflect on what they did, though."

"You seem very forgiving, sir. I wish I could be as patient as you...I need it, around this lanky oaf here."

He let out a warm, low laugh and smiled at them. "You're all such good friends, it seems. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so...I actually wrote over 9000 words originally. Just saiyan.<strong>

**No but seriously, I did. However, I thought that maybe you wouldn't appreciate the excruciating read, and that you would most likely prefer it if I did it in smaller bites. So here ya go, 6000-odd words instead. I've split it up so that not only will the next chapter come MUCH faster, but it'll actually be quuuiiiiite the direct follow-on, unlike the previous chapters.**

**Until the next time – fuck off. Just kidding, I love you all. But some more than others. Don't forget that.**


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